


The Dark & The Light

by Vorox3



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, F/F, RWBY - Freeform, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 21:25:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3584601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vorox3/pseuds/Vorox3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two of the few remaining astronauts enlist for the most important space mission in Remnant history. Traveling to another habitable world, lightyears away. Can they survive the journey?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Prelaunch Preconceptions

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. I've decided to start posting this story in other areas of the web, starting with AOO.
> 
> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Prelaunch Preconceptions**

* * *

She sat and looked out through the large glass pane that made up the viewing window. The glass took the form of the fourth wall of the room she was sitting in, it was just about as big as the cargo containers that pass through the complex every now and then. She stared through it, observing and examining her metal chariot. There, sat upon the mobile launcher platform, was the  _Beacon_ , the rocket propelled vehicle that would take her out of the atmosphere and into the vacuum of space.

Technically, this was just a segment of her chariot; most of the vehicle was assembled in orbit, piece by piece sent up into space. This was the last part of the  _Beacon_ , the command capsule and atmospheric lander. It took the form of an elongated isosceles trapezoid, like a round wedge with a wide base and a narrow nose. Heat shielding on the underside of the spacecraft turned the belly a shade of black, as if it was made of coal, a hexagonal pattern carved into it. For a lander that doubled as aircraft, it did a splendid job of not looking as if it could fly; the craft barely had any wings. The edges thinned and became flatter as the moved outward from the center.

It's launch vehicle was a standard rocket, nicknamed by most as the  _Little Dragon_. The launcher consists of three stages. First two solid rocket boosters will ignite, each weighing just over two-hundred metric tons and twenty-five meters long, burning for a little more than two minutes. Second, a liquid fuel engine will begin its burn one-hundred seconds after launch, and will continue to burn for two-hundred seconds, pushing itself into orbit. Third, a upper stage rocket designed for orbital insertions, with a burn time of nearly one-hundred-twenty seconds.

Resting her hands on pants of her cobalt jumpsuit, she did not allow herself to view anything but the spectacle that was the ship on the launch pad. The exterior of the craft wouldn't return to her view for about two years. It was waiting for her, calling out to her like a treasure among dirt. She inhaled deeply, her chest rising as she reset her jaw.

"Three days are going to be torture." A voice from behind spoke up, in a calm, almost whispering tone.

The sitting woman perked up, pushing her shoulders back as she turned to look at the voice's source. Another woman, clothed in a familiar blue jumpsuit, stood a few steps away. Her eyes were azure orbs that synced perfectly with her platinum white hair, converging into her offset ponytail that traveled down to her waist. And her petite face made her anything but unattractive, especially paired her small, cute smile.

"You know you're going to have to cut that ponytail. You must be Weiss." The sitting woman got up on her feet, speaking low and sounding tired.

Weiss stepped forward, arm extended "And you must be Blake."

The taller girl took a glimpse at the hand, swallowing before taking it in her own and shaking it; she reciprocated Weiss' smile, "You are correct."

Once their hands had retracted, an eerie silence inhabited the room. Neither of the two created eye contact, searching the room for anything that could resurface a conversation.

"Is that it?" Weiss nudged with her head, in the direction of the viewing window.

Blake spun on her heel join the other woman in watching the still rocket, "Yeah. That's our spacecraft, The  _Beacon_."

"Well, it's much more than that." They shared a glance.

"Obviously. With the rest of it in orbit and the fact that it is the first spacecraft fitted with a capable alcubierre drive. It is much more than a normal craft." The brunette elaborated

Weiss shook her head, "That's not what I meant. This is going to set new records! The first all-female crew in space. The first people to travel out of our sun's SOI. First manned alcubierre drive flight. First to land on another habitable planet."

"The first faunus in space." Blake smirked with a sniffle, not removing her stare from the  _Beacon_. She received a pat on the back from the woman standing beside her.

She swept her focus over to the shorter girl, "So, record setter, where are you from?"

"Vale. I was born to the Schnee family," Blake's eyebrows shot up, "I know. The name gets a bad reputation...but I'm not like them. I've always had different views to the rest of my family, and they didn't like it," Weiss looked down at the floor, "Being raised, like that. To be forced to agree to things you disagreed with. It makes you an foreigner in your own home. The night sky became my only friend, it would listen to me, allow me speak. I found peace with the stars in the sky, so I wanted to explore them. Meet them."

"I guess," The brunette gazed back at the  _Beacon_ , "You'll get your wish"

Weiss twisted her foot to confront the other, "And what about you?"

Blake swallowed for a second time and scratched her neck, "We'd need a lot more than three days to get an organized summary."

"There they are, the chosen ladies." They both pivoted on their hip to meet a man in a white labcoat.

He looked to be in his late thirties, though the edges of his gelled hair turned grey; most likely from stress. The dark rings under his eyes pointed to a lack of sleep, his five o'clock shadow didn't shine much light on the subject either.

"Mr. Salvai" The astronauts acknowledged the scientist, rotating around to face him fully.

He performed a quick wave as he approach the two, "I hope you two had a nice chat to get to know each other. We don't usually have crew members meet for the first time a few days before launch, but Weiss was a hard character to find," Salvai produced a chuckle, but it faded to a serious tone, "Anyway, we have now two days and five hours till launch. I suggest that you both contact your families and say your goodbyes and such. You won't see them again for five years"

The woman nodded.

"Oh, and Weiss, come with me. We need to get that hair cut." Mr. Salvai added.

Blake snickered, "You two have fun. Salvai, I'm going to run the flight sim a few more times."

"Be my guest, Blake."

* * *

This was the fifth time she did the landing. Glancing at her wristwatch, she saw it was nearly midnight; someone should have gotten her by now. Blake continued the simulator anyway, she'd need all the practice she could get.  
She thought about Salvai's words again, about contacting her family.

' _You, get out! Now! Out! And never come back!'_ echoed in her mind, repeating over and over.

She tightened her grip on the joystick. Her breathing intensified as she grew angry, her entire body tightened as the simulator rocked the cockpit. A burning fire sparked inside her, hotter than the atmospheric reentry she was performing. Her hands became unsteady, shaking with the joystick in hand as she began to lose her composure.

Dangerous and deadly memories flooded back to her, sending fire to course through her veins. She let out a warcry as the replica spacecraft broke through the atmosphere; raising a hand, she flipped switches with such force she snapped the levers off. Tears stroked down her face as the airbreathing engines spun up, her anger turning to angst.

Blake suddenly froze; her jaw hanging loose as she gazed down at the controller. Something inside her made a connection. Her knuckles cracked as she choked the stick, and she punched it forward. The aircraft was sent into a nose dive. Alarms beeped and buzzed, flashing the cabin red and orange while she watched the digital ground approach. The altimeter dropping at hundreds of meters per second until impact.

She sat in the cockpit, still buckled in, and sobbed herself asleep.

* * *

"Blake? Blake, are you alright? Blake?" A woman's voice reverberated in Blake's head.

Groaning, she shook her head as she awoke, immediately spying her partner above her when she opened her eyes. She wiped her face down with her hands, scraping away the dried tears from her cheeks. Weiss stared down at the cockpit concerned.

The joystick was popped out of its socket, multiple switches were broke, and Blake looked as if she had cried a river. The multiple screens inside the cabin all displayed static and the message ' _Landing Failed'_ in giant red letters.

Blake undid her harness, "I'm fine. I'm okay."

Weiss lowered her arm to help the female up and out of the simulator. The brunette ignored the gesture and pulled herself out, passing by her fellow aviator. Her boots clanked against the aluminium steps that led to the concrete floor; each step stirred concern within a certain pair of cerulean oculi.

After about a minute, Weiss let out a short sigh and took chase, sprinting down the stairs, "Blake! Wait!" The other woman was ascending stairs that connected to a skybridge. She jogged up the steps, attempting to gain on Blake.

Nearly halfway through the bridge, Blake was stopped in her tracks. A hand set on her shoulder turned her round to be meet its owner.

"What?" Blake spoke apathetically

Weiss raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean, what? Blake, what happened back there in the simulator."

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Oh, right," The shorter female crossed her arms, "It doesn't concern me, especially when it seems to distress my copilot that I'm going to spending five years in the vacuum of space with."

Blake sighed, focus shifted to the window to her left, observing the morning sky, "Look, just go be with your family, like Salvai suggested."

"Sure. I will. Absolutely." The sarcastic remark caused the faunus' brows to furrow. Though before she raise any inquiries on the subject, Weiss had already made her leave. Blake was only able to think quietly to herself as she watched her descend into the Simulation Hall.

* * *

A steel spoon stirred a cup of tea. It had grown cold and was no longer in its prime. The spoon scooped up a portion of the liquid, only for it to turned and the beverage was poured back with the rest of it. The utensil was dropped to the side of the cup, generating a few  _clink_ s that captured the attention of a familiar woman.

Her annoyed countenance told the tea drinker that she seemed to be walking on thin ice.

"I'm not going to pry, Weiss." Blake started, looking up from her drink.

Weiss emitted nothing but silence, her fork twiddled in her salad.

"I asked you out here this morning...Because...I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier. I don't know you. I shouldn't be judging you."

"And I, you." Weiss gently set her fork down.

The brunette creaked up a smile and took a panoramic glance at the diner. Their appearance there granted them a few strange and awed looks from the people around. Two woman in blue jumpsuits with the _Atlas Space Agency_ insignias sewed onto their shoulders and chests caught the public eye quite easily.

In recent years the public interest in space exploration had diminished greatly. When Blake and Weiss were young, about a third of the children asked would say they wanted to be a cosmonaut over a hunter. Now, the dream of soaring into the vacuum of space had become almost nonexistent.

Blake met her gaze with Weiss once more, "Just one more day. And we'll be piloting the most important space flight to date."

"Yes. We will," Weiss replied, "But…" She added with a sad nature

"But what?"

Weiss sighed with a shake of her head, "If only people cared anymore...This is an extremely important mission, but the biggest headline it received was a thirty second news story. The last mission to be televised was the lunar mission!"

Blake pushed her tea away, "I know. It is sad. I remember how many people were thrilled to watch the landing, I, myself was ecstatic. But now...no one seems to even bat an eye at space anymore."

"Maybe by the time we return, things will have changed…" Weiss letting a half smile creep onto her lips.

"Maybe...hopefully…"

* * *


	2. Chapter 2: Moment of Fiery Glory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The launch is green lit. Shut your visors and activate O2 flow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Moment of Fiery Glory**

* * *

"Ok, stay calm. This is it. This is it." A brunette repeated a breathing exercise she had been perfecting as gravity pulled down on her spine.

Her partner looked over from her seat, "If you keep doing that once you fold up your visor, you're going to fog it up."

"Chamber Pressure verification is complete." The radio buzzed

"I'm just trying to stay calm." She took another deep breath in, this time closing her eyes.

Weiss shook her head and sunk back into her seat, "If you want to do that for an hour while we hang here forty meters off the ground, go right ahead."

"I will. I'm going to sit here and let the engineers and directors tick the clock down."

"Well, you're missing a great view of the sky. Don't you want to take a last look at it?" The calm woman scanned the cloudless, blue canvas.

Blake swallowed hard, "I'm going to see it again." Her hands gripped the armrests of her chair.

The words slightly shocked the other being in the cabin, "Yes, you are. But in five years! Let's not forget you'll see an alien sky before you see this one again."

"Next hold at T-20 minutes" The radio said between their conversation.

"How long to T-20?" Blake asked, eyes still shut.

Spying the mission clock on the center of the dashboard in the maze of buttons and switches, Weiss spoke up with a chuckle, "Forty-five minutes."

This caused her fellow aviator to groan and tighten her jaw.

Minutes ticked by as the directors and engineers made callouts, checking every minute detail of the ship's systems. Weiss had closely looked over all the capped switches, each one overhead and on the dashboard. The triangular observation windows were nearly covered by the controls, leaving little area to see through. She knew she wouldn't be using them much for flying the spacecraft, but for contemplating about the stars.

No matter how badly the other woman was anxious, she was still correct. This is it. This is the moment, where nothing else matters except firing yourself into orbit using solid and liquid fuel engines. She hadn't even said a word about this mission to her family; she hadn't spoken a word to her family in over a decade. The last words she exchanged with them was, 'I'm leaving.' And she followed through with that statement, but now she giving those words a new meaning; she was  _really_ leaving.

"Clear closeout crew from pad. The count is holding at T-20 minutes for a planned hold of ten minutes." Interrupted her internal monologue.

* * *

"We are here, at the viewing area for the launch of the monumental spacecraft, the  _Beacon_." A news reporter announced.

A man near his late fifties sat alone on a couch, sipping his alcoholic beverage as he watched the news program. The reporter continued her story.

"The spacecraft behind me is the final part to a much larger ship, assembled in orbit, to take humankind and for the first time, faunuskind, to other worlds. The ship is extraordinarily special compared to all previous crafts launched by ASA, the  _Atlas Space Agency_ , as it contains the first functional alcubierre drive, or warp drive, allowing superluminal speeds. Its destination is a distant star,  _Nikos,_ containing one habitable world. The entire journey will take just over fives years, round trip. Vale News Network would like to wish the pilots, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee, good luck on their mission."

The man choked on his drink, sending a wob of alcohol onto the white carpet at his feet. He frantically grabbed the remote and pressed the rewind button, listening to the phrase over and over again.

"Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee," Again reverberated through the room.

"Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee," And again.

"Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee," And again.

Did he hear that name correctly? Could it be the one and only woman he knew and loved? He replayed the clip again and again, as if waiting for a difference to tell him he was insane and he was hearing strange things.

Eventually he was convinced what the reporter said was true. He jumped up onto his feet, "Honey! Darling, where are you? Turn on the news!" He shouted as he ran off to find his wife.

* * *

The cockpit was mostly silent, other than a few clanks and groans from the spacecraft preparing to launch into the great unknown. Blake had eased herself over the past ten minutes between the hold. She stared out the cabin windows, following her partners advice and taking in Remnant's sky one last time.

Weiss exchanged glances between Blake and the mission clock, "Finally, you did something. The countdown should resume any second now."

The radio sparked once more, "The count has resumed. Next planned hold at T-9 minutes."

"Officially about twenty minutes from launch, Blake. Are you scared?" The pilot smirked

Blake laughed softly, "I'm terrified. And I bet you are too."

Weiss put her hands up, intimidating a perpetrator, "You got me. You can see right through me."

"Flight System backup complete. CDR, perform MPS helium reconfiguration."

"Check." Blake flipped a couple switches on the overhead.

She cracked her knuckles and tightened her gloves in anticipation, just waiting for the T-10 second countdown. Her feline ears twitched inside her helmet, confined by her head sock. This charade looped as the mission clock counted down, her fear and excitement increased tenfold with each second that passed by. Time stretched and contracted at the same time, perplexing her senses. Weiss' and the directors' words were a fuzz in her ear as she focused just on the timer and only the timer; ten minutes, five minutes, two minutes.

"Blake. Blake. Your visor. Blake. Your. Visor." Finally broke through the incoherent barrier and snapped Blake back into reality.

Shaking her head, Blake quickly turned the knob on the right of her helmet. She flashed Weiss a thumbs up.

The lead director conducted the countdown, "T-30 seconds...25 seconds...20 seconds...15 seconds...12 seconds...11, 10, 9, 8, 7…"

"Ready main engine." Weiss received the order and pressed a glowing button, "Check."

"6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, T-0 SRB Ignition."

Weiss' index glided across the panel to another button, "SRB Ignition."

"Liftoff."

The spacecraft roared, loud enough to rupture eardrums, as it pushed itself against Remnant's gravity and atmosphere. Off the launchpad, past the launch tower, and into the air. The cabin shook violently under the aerodynamic pressure and extreme acceleration. It rattled the two aviators as they took the eight minute climb into space, ripping through the air at hundreds of meters per second in a controlled fireball of glory.

The altimeter spun with unprecedented speed, accumulating kilometers in just quintets of seconds. Soaring into the dulling blue sky, five, ten, fifteen kilometers above the surface. Their heads hung as their metal chariot leaned with the rotation of their home world, using their enemy gravity as a tool to achieve orbit.

Now approaching thirty kilometers, the main engine activated, moving the cabin-sealed quake up the richter scale. In the blurry environment, Weiss readied her hand over a third neon square.

"SRB Separation." She spoke calmly, "Confirmed."

"Confirmed. CDR, You are ready for throttle to hundred." Their directors on the ground relayed.

Blake moved her right hand to the control, firmly wrapping her fingers around it and gently pushing it forward, "Confirmed. Throttle is hundred, GC."

Midway through the climb, the lid of the sky was being lifted, and the darkness of space was being unveiled. Their speed nearly five kilometers per second and rising, becoming faster with each expelled tonne of fuel. Their instruments clocked their height at seventy thousand meters, almost breaking the atmosphere. The cabin started to rest from its intense quivering as the pressure and thickness of the atmosphere receded.

At one-hundred kilometers, they crossed the  _Neosfaíras Line,_ officially placing them in space. Without the atmosphere in the way, the  _Beacon_  accelerated with a gentle ease.

Weiss carefully watched the monitors, waiting for the apogee to reach a sufficient height, "Prepare for engine cutout."

"Check" Blake readied the throttle, waiting for the call.

"Apogee peaked at five-hundred km, Cutout engine."

"Engine cutout." The control was yanked back, "Confirmed."

Now, with the main thruster off, the full effects of an weightless environment came to; their harnesses kept them from floating about the cockpit.

A finger brazed the red button, "Ready for Stage separation." Weiss pushed it down, a clunk was heard from the rear of the craft, "Stage separation, Confirmed. All systems green."

"ETA for rendezvous?" Blake flipped a switch on the dash.

Weiss tapped the button to the right of one of the monitors, flipping through the catalogs of information, "E-25 minutes."

And with that announcement, the spacecraft was finally silent.

All hands were off the controls, a newfound state of calmness inhabited the aluminium capsule. The two women exhaled gradually, a cloud of fog developing on each visor before dissipating. They exchanged a look, amber and azure connecting midst the weightless travel through nothing.

The previously anxious cosmonaut summoned up a cautious laugh and twisted her visor's knob. Weiss tried to fight off the humorous contagion, an unstable smile eventually broke into a tiny fit of laughter.

"I don't feel that rush often enough." Blake examined the sphere that was Remnant outside their cabin window.

Her partner lifted her visor, nodding in her helmet, "You can say that again…"

"Last time I felt something that intense...it was…it was..." Blake's good mood faded, "A long time ago…" She turned forward, avoiding eye contact with Weiss, who spied her with a narrow look.

"Blake...I want to say something. I know you think we're different, despite the conversations we had before launch…" Weiss sighed, "But the more you hide your past...the more I think we are the same."

The brunette returned Weiss' stare, silent.

"We're going to be flying together, alone, for five years, Blake. Somewhere along the line, we're going to talk. And this topic is going to resurface. I just want to have you know, it may be good to share with someone you could possibly relate to."

Blake swallowed, "Can you switch the orbital velocity to the relative velocity of the target?"

The woman's stare lingered for a few more moments, breaking it with a sad sigh. Rotating a knob on the right side of the center monitor, "One-thousand meters per second relative to the target."

"Starting burn at about three-hundred meters out," Blake checked the rising altimeter.

* * *

A white dot moved out of sync with its starry background, getting larger with each passing second. It was the  _Beacon_ , at least the half of it. The core was a two point seventy-five meter wide and thirteen meter long cylinder, segmented into four parts. Connecting by three columns to the rear and front sections were two alcubierre rings, the beauty of the imperative spacecraft; the lunar-grey rings enabled the ability to bend space-time. In the center of the rear ring was a state of the art Mercury rocket engine, delivering the highest thrust-to-weight ratios, delta velocity, and specific impulse compared to any previous rocket. The two portions in the center were the three meter liquid fuel tank and the two meter SNAP-class nuclear reactor.

A third ring composed of four main habitation modules, dedicated to experiments, recreational activities, sleeping, and eating, attached to the fuel tank by four pillars. That third ring was where they'd spend most of the days ahead of them. Lastly an exposed docking port presenting itself on the end of the front ring, waiting for them to become the head of the snake.

Blake watched the upcoming craft through the starboard window, brow furrowed.

"Blake, everything okay?" Weiss asked

"Yes, yes...I just…" The faunus bit her the inside of her cheek, "Nevermind," She shook her head and pressed forth on the throttle.

Weiss' helmet tapped the back of her seat, a sign of that the engine was still functioning, "Nine-hundred meters, eight-hundred meters…" She gave Blake a concerned glance, "Perigee at one-hundred...two-hundred...three-hundred...Engine cutout in three...two…cutout."

The larger object seemed to barely move in the cold exterior environment.

"Relative velocity about two meters per second, twenty meters out, stage and proceed with docking?"

Blake scanned the overhead, "Engaging RCS." She activated the switch directly above her.

"Staging." A  _thunk_  was heard from behind them, "Confirmed."

The black and white space wedge floated effortlessly around the front of the interstellar ship, away from it's ejected space debris. It rotated with a twist of a joystick to align the two crafts' planes. With it behind them, they had to rely on the  _Beacon_ 's sensors in order to dock the vessel correctly and safely. Tiny clouds of grey exhaust shot out of the portside thrusters, reducing their lateral velocity to the target. Bursts of monopropellant discharged from the charcoal nose of the lander, pushing them to reverse toward their other half.

"Seven point five centimeters per second relative to the target. Predicted course is green. Yaw and Pitch aligned. Roll is negative ten degrees off." The cerulean iris' read off the information. Careful taps of the stick rolled the ship degree by degree as it literally inched its way to dock.

"Slow the craft to two centimeters at less than a meter."

Blake focused on the relative distance counter on the main monitor. "Instructions received."

Eventually the two vessels touched and the ports clamped down on each other, an intertwined handshake between two machines. They sealed together, atmosphere spread to the lower half while it surrendered control to the newly acquired head of the complete craft. Now connected to the main hull's reaction wheels, Blake began to accelerate the entire ship into a spin. The weightless environment diminished.

"Quarter of a G...Half of a G...Almost there...One G." Blake announced as she let go of the controls, giving Weiss a thumbs up.

She returned it with a nod and activated her comm, "GC, we have successfully docked and established artificial gravity. Awaiting orders."

"Prepare for warp, CDR. E-40 minutes."

Blake unbuckled herself from her harness, standing up and stretching her back, "Copy that, GC. Instructions received." She muted her headset. Turning on her heel to face Weiss, she flashed her a happy smirk. In which Weiss returned.


	3. Chapter 3: Good Morning, Vietnam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our crew's final words before initiating their five year journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Good Morning, Vietnam**

* * *

The cabin was silent. After the rendezvous, the excitement had died down. Weiss continuously checked the various panels and monitors, dissecting patches of information. Blake had tried to reassure her that she could calm herself multiple times now, but Weiss never let up.

The vessel was almost in position to embark on it's journey to  _Nikos_  and its exoplanet. Neither of the pilots could deny the stress overflowing in the capsule. Blake leaned back in her chair, staring at their planet below them. Watching the continents and oceans appearing from the rim of the spheroid and sink into the night side.

Letting her focus float around, she was finally able to extensively view of her metal chariot. The entire front of the ship was a thirty degree wedge, gaining a height of two-point-seventy-five meter at the rear. The white interior was made of all different kinds of compartments toward the back and turned into an array of buttons and switches as it approached the dashboard. Most of the overhead switches controlled fuel and electricity flow, the landers airbreathing engines, and locking and unlocking of certain components. The dash contained all of the flight information, instruments and controls for more immediate causes, such as flying and staging. Between both of these were the foot tall viewing windows, each a separate triangle panel, stretched from the ultimate left to the ultimate right allowing for one-eighty converge.

She looked down at the center console. It was about a foot wide and contained most of the controls for the velocity of the craft. Two throttles, one for each pilot, mirrored one another at the center of the console; Under those were twelve yellow buttons, two sets of six, controlled the reaction control system. At the very front, before it merged into the dashboard, was a red button outlined in black and white. That was the emergency cutout, only used for absolute times of danger.

Lastly, was a panel sealed by a clear plastic casing to her left. This was Blake's personal toy, the alcubierre drive. A monitor displaying the two rings' status, another emergency switch, charge and initiation controls. The ten inch by ten inch panel was the jewel of the command capsule.

"CDR. CDR. This is Salvai. Do you copy?" The radio buzzed

Weiss pulled down her microphone, "We read you, Salvai."

"I need both of you to turn your flight chairs to face the rear of the craft."

The astronauts looked at each other for a moment, eventually spinning their chairs around.

"Weiss, when you're turned around, there is a blue button to your left, under the rest. Press it."

Again the aviators shared a glance before following the command. From the ceiling, a small camera flipped out, facing them.

Blake bit her cheek, "Salvai, why did you just tell me to open the video log recorder?"

"We're improvising with it. That camera is going to be streaming to all major news networks soon. This will be the first time in years that astronauts will be televised!"

* * *

A man, wife, and daughter sat in a spacious living room, watching their large television. The man swirled a glass of amber liquid in his right hand, it was the only movement in the eerily still room and its members.

"Hello Vale, this is VNN." An anchorwoman projected, setting her papers down onto her desk, "I am Lisa Lavender, bringing you the evening news. Our first story is the spacecraft,  _Beacon_ , launched only about an hour ago. The two pilots, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee..."

The man took a swig from his glass.

"Are to be embarking on a five year mission to visit another world outside our solar system and return safely back to Remnant. We are joined with the Altas, Mistral, and Vacuo News Networks to talk to the two brave women currently five-hundred kilometers in orbit. We are now going to live to the  _Beacon_."

The screen flashed over to the small white-interiored capsule, the two pilots looking forward at the camera. The wife nearly fainted; she was supported by her daughter.

"Is everyone here?" Lisa asked, getting three responses from the other anchors, "Can you ladies hear us up there?"

Blake's hand moved up to her headset, "Loud and clear, Lisa."

"How's the view up there?" The lighthearted was question spoken by another anchor.

"Impossible to describe, it's truly amazing," Weiss smirked

"Why don't you tell us about your destination?"

Blake nodded, "Our destination is a star about twenty light years from Remnant. The star  _Nikos,_ more specifically the exoplanet  _Nikos-3a_ , its third planet just barely in the habitable zone."

"That's quite a ways you have ahead of you, how will you travel that distance?"

A finger pointed to Blake's right, "That panel there controls the alcubierre drive on this ship. This is only ship ever built to have one. What it does is expands and contracts space to push us; it can bypass certain laws in physics, including the law that states nothing with mass can achieve the speed of light or faster. With it we can travel to the star in about a day."

"A day? Why does this mission take five years?"

"Due to safety reasons, we cannot warp into the sphere of influence of a planet. We have to warp in a fair distance away from the planet and star, then use conventional chemical rockets to create a rendezvous with the planet that may take a year-and-a-half to two years. We land on the planet, stay for about a month, take off, wait another year-and-a-half and return." Blake answered

"I see….and how fast would you be traveling between stars?"

"Well…" Weiss tapped her chin, "Twenty light years in about day translates to about...two-point-one-billion kilometers per second...which is about seven-thousand times faster than the speed of light."

"That's amazing. Well, that's all time we have, and I'm sure you two are busy. Would you two like to say anything else before we leave?" Lisa offered

Blake started, "Yes, actually...We just want to let the people of Remnant know, this is the end of an era…"

"But the beginning of a new one as well," Weiss continued, "Where maybe one day children may grow under an alien sky…"

"And witness the true beauty of the universe as they traverse the stars with ease."

"And we're honored to start this new era," They spoke in unison.

* * *

The momentum wheels spun up, slowly rotating the hull of the craft in the weightless environment of space. Digital instruments were displayed upon the monitors, specifically a flight director attitude indicator. Groaning, the ship aimed itself at the twinkle in the sky. Blake let go of the stick and enabled the stability systems.

Weiss turned to look at her partner before calling in to ground control, "GC, we are in position and aligned with  _Nikos_. Waiting for your greenlight."

"You are go for warp, CDR. Waiting on you. Reminder, CDR, we will lose all radio contact once you initiate warp."

"Copy that, GC." Weiss threw her headset on the hood of the dashboard rubbed her eyes. Blake glanced at the distressed cosmonaut before opening up the plastic cover over the warp drive control panel to her left. She flipped two switches, and watched the status bars on each side of them fill up.

"Drive charging for warp, GC." Blake beamed down back to the surface. The usually collective Schnee had picked up her breathing, a new panicky demeanour taking over. Her foot began tapping, beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, and her stare never focused on a single point for more than a few seconds.

Blake tightened her jaw, "I thought you weren't terrified of space flight?"

"I am," Weiss stated, "Experimental space flight is a whole thing in its entirety. There are so many things that can go wrong with this! The spacecraft pulling itself in half. The spacecraft pull us in half. We warp too close to the star and burn up! Or into a planet!"

"Thanks for being an optimist." The warp drive controller snarked, seeing the rings had completed their charge, "Are you ready?"

"No"

Blake pressed the activation button, "Oops," She grinned. Their point of view narrowed before returning to normal. For a moment, they thought nothing had happened, but the theory was debunked with their sun drifting pass them as they moved at incredible speeds. Weiss, still shaken, changed the digital speedometer to count constants. Even at only traveling at one constant, they zipped through their solar system as it was an interplanetary highway.

It reminded Weiss of a trip to the planetarium when she was only just a child. An old memory that one of her favorites, when her family was still in one piece. She recalled the announcer's voice, it was deep and resonant, as it led her to all the planets at super-speeds. He would speak of their composition and how old they were; Weiss, at the time, had no idea what any of it meant, but she was captivated by it and yearned for more. She learned there were more than just planets, there were stars, collections of stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies and she wanted to understand each and every one. They passed within a few million kilometers of the gas giant Neptune as they left their home system, and it appeared just as the planetarium had predicted.

"Ten constants... one-hundred constants...five-hundred constants…" Blake ticked off.

Behind them, their sun was another star in the sky, seeming so small now. With each passing second the spacecraft accelerated faster and faster, more and more constants per second.

The faunus pressed the throttle to its maximum, "one-thousand constants… two-thousand constants... four-thousand constants...six-thousand constants...seven-thousand constants! seven-thousand times faster than the speed of light! We did it! Superluminal travel! You and I, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee!" The pilot realized her celebration without acknowledgement, "Weiss?"

Looking over, she found the other woman had passed out, whether it had been from exhaustion or she just fainted. Either way, she let the aviator be.

* * *

Taking the silver pouch from the compartment, Blake uncapped the plastic tube. She sat down at a square booth, just big enough for two people, staring out the table's viewport. Subtracting the oscillations of the spiraling vessel, one could conclude that actually only some of the stars shifted in the vacuum, and only slightly. Even at these speeds, the stars still move a minimal amount relevant to an observer.

She sipped the juice imitation; then held it away from as she retched from its terrible flavor. Blake set the pouch down on the table and regained her composure with a few coughs. Sighing, she searched for constellations that she was still able to recognize.

The easiest to point out in the blackness was the horse-resembling constellation,  _Valkyrie._ It was named after a group of a women, in ancient mythology, who chose who lived and who died. If a Valkyrie truly existed, Blake would succumb to insomnia hunting it down and stealing its living-breath to achieve retribution. Though, it would be irrelevant, to take revenge on a being that only followed through with its job, even its job was to reap.

A helmet-less, platinum-haired woman in orange, plopped down from the ladder tunnel that merged into the module's ceiling. She took a look up the tube, seeing the turquoise fuel tank looking back down at her. Turning to meet her partner, she gave a nod and retrieved a 'juice' pouch of her own.

"Who designed this ship?" Weiss asked rhetorically as she sat opposite of the other astronaut, taking a quaff of her drink and gagged just as Blake had, " _That_... is not juice."

Blake chuckled, "You're right."

"Did they pack us anything with actual flavor?"

"No, that's not what I mean, Weiss," Blake shook her head, "I'm talking about right after we got up into orbit...We will eventually have to talk about ourselves and our pasts…"

Weiss leaned back and crossed her arms, "Promise not to go silent on me when I start asking," She finished the statement with a snarky grin.

Blake picked up her beverage, "I said we would talk about it...eventually."

"Okay. Eventually." Weiss' smirk never let.

"Look, Weiss. I bet you're dying to know, but I'm not ready nor I think you're ready to hear about my past."

Azure eyes narrowed, "And what does that mean?"

"It means I've done some things," Blake looked out the port, scanning over the front the ship that she could see, "Things I'm not necessarily proud of."

The brunette watched as the woman across from her studied her, staring deep into Blake's soul. She silently sipped her disgusting drink without breaking her contact, "I've been through enough therapy, Blake, to know when someone is afraid. And you're terrified of something, and I just can't pinpoint what exactly that something is."

Blake exhaled, "You don't know me, Weiss."

"You keep saying that, but I think you know that I know you, that I can read you like a book. I think why I can read you so well, is because right after that flight sim incident three days ago, I knew we were the same. I can tell what you're feeling, what you're thinking because I've already lived through it. You're hiding from your past now, pushing it away, because you don't want to face it and you want to continue on not letting it be a part of you. Well, news flash, it is!"

The faunus jumped to her feet, "Enough, Weiss! I'm tired of you prying at me, and using that 'I know you' excuse! Not many people can feel what I feel and you are not one of them," She stomped up the bend and exited the module into another, leaving Weiss there to sigh.

"And then there's isolation, I almost forgot about that part."


	4. Chapter 4: Hotel California

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama between the crew continues to flow and a terrible secret has been uncovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Hotel California**

* * *

She checked her wristwatch, as she laid in her bunk. The centripetal force of the spinning spacecraft kept her spine in contact with sheets. Feeling the artificial gravity tug her down, preventing the weightlessness of space from degrading her anatomy. Silence was the only thing that prevailed in the vessel's environment.

Her feet swung around to hang off the edge of the mounted cot. Across from her was another cosmonaut's empty bed, sheets still drawn over and untouched. She exhaled and stood; turning to take her cobalt jumpsuit from its overhead compartment. Pulling her limbs through their appropriate garments, enclosing herself inside the suit with a zip.

After lazily throwing her bunk's covers back over itself, she gripped the first rung of the retractable ladder above her. With a yank, she let the ladder fall down its guides just to stop immediately before slamming into the floor of the spacecraft. Her fingers wrapped around the steel and ascended up toward the turquoise tank.

She flipped onto the fuel tank catwalk, footsteps making an echoing clank as she approached the second alcubierre ring. Stepping through its service tunnel and into the cockpit with the swoosh of its mechanical door. A quick scan of the cabin was enough to spot her fellow pilot slumped to her side, asleep in her aviator chair. She checked her watch once more.

"Wake up, we need to pull this ship out of warp soon." The conscious woman spoke as she buckled herself into her chair.

The other stretched her arms with a yawn, "I thought we were done talking, Blake."

Blake turned her head around with a death stare, "We are; for now. But, we still have a spacecraft going seven-thousand times faster than the speed of light to fly." She grabbed the throttle, waiting for Weiss' cue.

"Flight assist coming online," Weiss announced.

"Twelve-point-five million light seconds," Blake reduced the throttle, "Twelve million light seconds," she ticked down.

Moving at a slowing speed of around five-hundred-thousand light seconds per second, they saw the foreign star grow closer, beginning to take the appearance of a large fireball of nuclear fusion with each passing minute. It glowed as massive flares of orange and red expelled itself from the plasma in elegant waves of heat. The alien star presence cemented the two cosmonauts in the seats. They had seized the opportunity to observe a foreign star as they would see their own, a monumental moment that struck their hearts excessively with joy.

Overwhelmed, tears began to flow from azure eyes down a cheek. Not of happiness or sadness, but of relief. She had made it.

"Weiss...are you alright?" The warp controller asked, still concentrating on her task at hand.

"I just can't believe I'm finally here" Weiss wiped her tears away.

Blake nodded to herself and glanced at her partner, "I know...hard to accept we just left everything behind…"

"No...not that…" Weiss kept her attention to the foreign sun, " _Nikos…_ The star in the sky I'd talk to at night…"

The faunus' ear twitched, "You mean from when you were a child?"

"Yes...I remember when I chose it to be my star...It seemed to be all alone in the sea of lights...I thought I could relate. And now, here I am, meeting it in person. My one true friend."

Blake let her be for the moment, focusing on 'stopping' the ship. The throttle clicked as it reach the end of its rail, signifying the end of their interstellar flight. Drifting in the void without end was a somewhat unsettling concept for the brunette, so she searched the black space for her destination. A dark spot the size of a pencil tip showed itself in contrast with the bright star behind it. Judging by its place in the solar system, she had guessed it was the exoplanet  _Nikos-3a_. She raised a finger pointing to the planet, "There's our destination."

Weiss turned to see the rock Blake identified, "That's  _Nikos-3a?_ "

"It seems to be the right distance from the star. Looks the right size from here. I say we plot our course and perform a burn." Blake waited for a response. After a lack of sound, she looked over to see her shipmate still staring at the star, "Weiss...Weiss. Weiss!"

Her platinum hair jumped up with the rest of her body, "Sorry...I just...Course for  _Nikos-3a_ …" Weiss decided to shrug it off for now and tapped the monitor controls, "Course set...Burn in about a minute for five minutes."

"You want to talk more about it?" Blake inquired, rotating the craft to align it with the projected course.

"Once you talk more about yourself…" Weiss knew she treading into dangerous territory.

Blake switched on the vessel's stabilization assistance and let go of her joystick. She took a deep breath in followed by a long exhale. The ship accelerated as she pushed down the throttle before she unbuckled herself. Her chair twisted round, allowing her to get up onto her feet, and simply stride out of the cabin.

"Fly the ship yourself."

* * *

Blake stormed into the fuel tank module, glassy eyes holding back floodgates with ire. Repetitively circling the turquoise tank over and over again, the room seemed to disappear as she dissected he thoughts.. The woman in the jumpsuit was astonished by Weiss, how she had the nerve to even pry at the subject. Had she no heart? No soul? But what of herself? After what she did to her family, could she claim she had a heart of any kind? She doesn't feel the guilt she should have, but she feels the need to run as far away as she possibly could.

Her feet stomped on the grated walkway, her anger directed more to herself than Weiss now. She had picked and prodded that situation again and again over the years. Attempting to produce an outcome in where she didn't have to do what she had done, that cruel task. No avail; it had always played itself the same way, no matter what element she altered. Her fist tightened.

Her arm cocked back ready to throw a punch; but her arm never followed through. She stood, frozen, petrified at what she saw. The main gauge on the side of the tank, ticking down past a quarter full. Watching it as she connected points in her mind. Her lip quivered, her knees weakened and buckled, falling onto the safety railing. Never breaking contact with the gauge. She broke down, tears flowing along with her morality.

"No...No…"

* * *

Weiss pulled the throttle to zero when she heard the door open behind her. Spinning in her chair to face her partner, her stern look of annoyance switched to anxiety. Blake's angry stance, balled fists, and taut shoulders, contradicted the melancholy in her amber stare.

"Blake?"

"What does that fuel gauge say?" Blake pointed from her hip.

Weiss read from over her shoulder, "About half full...Why?"

The brunette shook her head and stepped to her chair. She sunk into it, legs spread with hands between. Her heel kicked the floor of the cabin, turning the chair to face the ventablack emptiness with a bang. Middle and index fingers rubbed her temples.

Staring at her feet, Blake sighed with a snivel, "I knew it…"

"Blake, what are you talking about?" Weiss leaned forward, worried.

"You were brought on late in this project, Weiss. I had been here for the whole thing, I've seen every scenario, every model, every  _blueprint_."

Azure eyes narrowed, "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying there was supposed to be second fuel tank!" Blake bursted, throwing her arms into the air, "We only have one. And its less than a quarter full. I'm saying they lied to us."

"Who?" Weiss furrowed her brow, " _ASA_?"

"Tampered fuel gauges, Weiss," The faunus gestured to the dashboard, "They wanted us to believe we could go back…"

Weiss checked her peripherals, "Go back to…"

"Remnant…" Blake finished, turning to her shipmate, "We're never going back to Remnant, Weiss."

Weiss sat still with widened oculi, "W-What? Blake, t-there must be a mistake."

Blake shut her eyes tightly, "We only have enough fuel to capture ourselves in orbit around  _Nikos-3a..._ then that'll be it. Game over."

"W-Why don't we just warp back?" The Schnee stood, pointing from where they came.

The sitting pilot's head sunk, "Exotic Matter reserves depleted…"

Weiss' breathing became quick, unpatterned and heavy, "W-We can, we can generate it with the reactor!" Her voice now fueled by panic as she paced around the cabin.

Blake shook her head, "...It would take over a century…"

"We can- We can eject the rings!" The hysterical female's voice cracked, "Reduce the mass! U-Use the monoprop!" Beads of sweat appeared atop her forehead, hands clutched her skull, "We can- We can detonate the-the! Jettison the...we...we can…"

Blake couldn't stand to watch the dire scene before her. The other pilot was experiencing a mental breakdown. Increased heart rate, unsteady breathing, muttering, manifesting false hope; she was melting down into a mess. She herself was on the verge of cracking, but she knew the last thing they needed was space madness; especially when drifting in interplanetary space.

She stood, arm extended out, "Weiss, calm down…"

"I need to go back!" Weiss sounded as she had sprinted a marathon, panting and gulping hard. Her eyes showed off the sheer amount of terror she currently felt with their massiveness.

Blake stepped toward her, "...Weiss…" Seeing her like this, only reminded the faunus of herself five years ago. It resurfaced awful memories, causing tears to form in their ducts.

Weiss inched away from Blake, tears of her own beginning to take form, "I NEED to go back!" Her desperate shouts were enough to shatter one's soul.

"Weiss!" Blake was starting to break up, but kept her composure with a prolonged swallow. She reached out to her partner.

"I HAVE TO!" The shorter woman screamed as loud as her body would allow.

"WEISS!" Blake snatched the other close. After that, they spoke no words, they just clung to each other, sobbing one anothers' shoulders. Deeper shades of blue stained their cobalt garments.

* * *

The two cosmonauts sat in their determined seats, tear trails stained their skin. The cockpit was being pumped only with oxygen and silence. Neither dared to even glance at the other, allowing each to process the information they had uncovered minutes ago. Unbeknownst to both, they both ultimately felt the same heavy, unforgiving emotion the most, for similar reasons; they felt regret.

Weiss leaned back and pressed the rear of her head to the headrest. A nasally inhale of the nose signified a thought of import bounced to and fro inside her brain. Releasing an exaggerated breath, she carefully turned to view her shipmate. She quickly diverted away to the bolted panels of the cabin floor.

"I just don't understand." She shook her head, "Why? The reasoning behind it."

Blake said without a blink, "Twenty-five million."

Weiss looked back at her copilot, confused, "I'm sorry?"

"Twenty-five million was the reasoning" The brunette reinstated with sigh

A brow raised itself over cerulean, "I still don't-"

"Think about it, Weiss." Blake words contained undirected anger, "Our conversation at the diner before launch."

"What? You judging me?" Weiss leaned toward Blake.

"No…" Blake moved her head side to side, "The public interest of space exploration...How it decreased so much…"

"Blake, I don't see…"

" _ASA_  wasn't getting enough funding for their missions because of that," Blake stare deep into Weiss, "But they were persistent. They wanted to complete  _this and other_  imperative space flights. So they had to make cutbacks. For our flight, the twenty-five million lien to launch a fuel tank into orbit."

Weiss turned to observe  _Nikos,_ "And they knew no one would agree if it was a one way trip."

Blake nodded

Weiss swallowed, "What do we do now?" She looked back at Blake."

"Live."

Weiss lifted her head slightly.

"Or…" Blake let out a heavy sigh, " Or give up and die."


	5. Chapter 5: Carry On My Wayward Son

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We dive deeper into Blake's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Carry On My Wayward Son**

* * *

The engine clanked as it was switched off. The driver sighed in her seat and unbuckled her belt. Pulling the key out of the truck's ignition, she stared at the house before her. It wasn't anything special, it was a small home. A one story suburban building, relatively new, white like the ones surrounding it. Open navy shutters, left of the garage, revealed the kitchen to the outside world. Two more sets of closed shutters shielded the bedrooms from creatures of the night.

She rubbed her aching forehead. The repetitive pounding of the blood circulating within her only caused the head-pain to worsen. Her hand moved to her knotted neck muscles, allowing for them to relax. The pains were always there when she returned home. It was a routine that never seemed to break; school, work, and back to the hell-house to repeat the cycle all over again.

A thick textbook took its spot in the passenger seat. She turned to it, scanning the expensive binding of pages from top to bottom before sighing. To be carrying such a book was almost frowned upon in her society, but it broke laws in her own home. She snatched it from its place and stuffed it into her rugged messenger bag.

The old, rundown, rust bucket of a truck unpleasantly creaked as its door was pushed open. She stepped out and planted her feet onto the paved driveway. She kept still, peering through the window of the open door to stare at the home. With a reach back into the vehicle, she retrieved and slung her bag over her shoulder. A slam of the truck door echo through the street.

Deep breathes were accented by the chill of night. She glanced up at the stars for a moment. A certain courage and pride let her begin her walk to the front door. Holding her chest out with a sense of importance, she looked down at her messenger bag, and raised a smile upon her face. She searched her pockets for her key then quietly allowed herself into the household.

She leaned through the door frame, checking her peripherals mid-step. Gently gliding across the hardwood surface, she snuck through her living room. The clanging of pots and pans could be heard from the other room. Looking over her shoulder as she reached the start of the hallway.

"Blake." A raspy voice came from behind, "Avoiding me again?"

The girl sighed and turned to the taller man.

He chuckled slightly and looked down at the floor, "What's that?" He pointed to her bag.

"Its a messenger bag, Dad," Blake tried to play dumb, attempting to turn away from the man.

Her father's hand grabbed her shoulder, "What is that?" His voice much more serious and intimidating than just before.

Blake's kept her eyes off him, "It's nothing."

"Blake."

She didn't respond.

He shot his hand to grab the bag and yanked it from her arm, nearly toppling his daughter in the process. She shouted at him to stop, but ignored her plead. He rotated around to start for the kitchen.

He plopped the bag onto the bar counter and began to pile out its contents. Working for only a brief period until he found what he was scavenging for. He ripped the textbook from its place as Blake rounded the corner into the kitchen. His eyes stared deep into her with utmost anger. The textbook was tossed onto the granite in front of the girl.

The man leaned on the countertop, "Astrophysics?" Disapproval radiating off him.

Blake sighed with a hung head, "Yes…"

Her father stood straight and shook his head, running his hand down his mouth, "I can't believe you."

"What? This is nothing new. You know that." Blake took the book in hand.

"I know…" He sighed, "But I'd just wish you'd stop wasting your life with this useless science!"

Blake's brows shot up, "I love this 'useless science!' It's important for our future!"

"Maybe it is, but not at this moment! I just want you to put the book down and stop!" He pounded his fist into the counter with every syllable, "Your life is just school, work, and studying; you barely get by! You still live with me, and you're twenty!"

The textbook was slammed onto countertop in anger, "I will not just set this down just because it's a challenge! And especially just because my father doesn't agree with it!"

Her father's palm rubbed his for forehead, "Blake, enough of this! I'm asking for you to stop and help me wi-"

"And here comes the speech again;" She threw her arms into the air, 'Stop wasting my time with science and help my father with the civil rights movement!"

A look of astonishment appeared upon her father's face, "Do you not care about the discrimination of your species?"

"I do, but-!"

"But what, Blake?" He interrupted

Blake inhaled and calmed herself, reducing the volume of her voice, "Just imagine what it would do for the rights movement if I was the first faunus in space!"

"It won't matter when the world doesn't care about space anymore! That's what I'm trying to tell you!" His hands reached out her.

"I'm doing it anyway. It's always been my ultimate goal!" Blake stared into her father's eyes with intimidation.

"You are putting shame on this family by doing that, and you know that!" His voice returned to a shout

Blake looked down at her feet, "I'm sorry my dreams have put you down, Father," Her tone was sarcastic.

"That's it," He pointed at Blake,"I'm pulling you out of that school. And you are going to contribute to your family!"

Blake moved around the bar to stand before her father, not breaking eye contact, "No!" Her response to answered with a slap to the cheek.

"I am your father," He spoke as Blake stood there in shock, "You listen and don't talk back to me!" He received a hard punch across the face, "Blake..." He turned back to face his daughter, wiping the blood from his lip. She tried to throw another fist but it was caught by her father, who then grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the counter opposite of the bar.

"I'm sick and tired of your behavior. You drove your mother away! The only thing you've been is a burden! And it's about time I do something about it." He looked to his right, to see a cutting board and a knife; a dark idea manifesting within him. His fingers wrapped around the blade's handle, "Moral is low right now, the faunus need a spark to set them ablaze again! And since you have no other use," The knife grazed Blake's throat, "You will be their spark! What will they do when the find the daughter of the leader of their rebellion murdered by humans?"

"D..D-Dad..." Blake managed to push out.

Her father raised a brow, "What?"

Blake had grabbed another knife from the counter behind, and drove it into her father's chest. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

He wobbled back a few steps, dropping his weapon. He looked down at the steal impaling him and that at his daughter, "Y-You...you...little…" Were the last words he spoke before he went limp and flopped onto the floor.

* * *

Blake wasted no time. She threw her father's corpse over her shoulder and carried the body into the bathroom. The shower curtains were pushed aside as the deceased was laid into the tub. Her hand reached hesitantly toward the bloody knife in his rib cage. Yanking it out with a wince, she forced herself butcher his arms and legs from his torso. Letting his leftover life source was away. Her heart was like a set of drums, pounding a melody of panic. A squeak from the pumps as water sprinkled from the shower head. Watching as the blood began to dilute, she stood and wiped her forehead. She turned away, not wishing to witness the blood being drained from her father's body. Knife in hand, she made her leave.

Stepping back into the kitchen, Blake tossed the steel blade into the sink. She turned on the tap with her wrist, rinsing the crimson off her hands and wetting a towel. Heavy breaths escaped her lips as she scrubbed the tile floors clean. Nervous sweat trickling down her temple, her entire frame was rattling. Though among the symptoms of the murder, her face was the most life threatening of all was her stare. Her countenance was expressionless, completely void of emotion.

After rubbing down the marble until her fingertips nearly bled, she dropped the rag into a paper bag along with the two knives. She took the brown pouch, her repacked messenger bag, a pack of matches, and an old shovel and hastily moved outside. Throwing the bags into the passenger seat and the spade into the bed of the truck. Soon following was the chopped remains of her father wrapped in blanket. She checked her peripherals before flipping up the tailgate and entering the vehicle.

Blake fumbled with the keys, dropping them a few times until she held them correctly. The automobile rumbled to life with the twist of the ignition. A press to the gas pedal and the truck turned out of the driveway. Blake tightened her grip on the wheel, keeping her head locked with the road. Her cold demeanor started to diminish, a snivel appearing here and there partnered with a few stray tears.

Close to the point of hyperventilation, she tried to calm herself. Even though they hated one anothers' guts, she couldn't believe the situation that had just unfolded. Her father had pulled a knife on her, she had pulled a knife on him; she murdered him. Blake swallowed her tears and kept forward.

The scenery changed dramatically as the time floated by. Suburbs turned an open highway, a highway became country, and country transformed into a single dirt road that led to the dirt beach of a lake. Blake stopped her transport about a meter before the steep slope to the body of water. She scanned the lake in the moonlight, taking note of its calmness and tried to copy it. A look at the moon along with an exhale was all it took.

Digging her soles into the dirt, she removed the shovel its place in the truck bed. She took it in her hand, held it taut, and gave a heave. The rust steel impaled the soil and lifted it up and out of her way. Another heave, and another heave, and another heave into the dirt, digging up a hole for her father. She never thought it'd come to this.

Her and her father had always been through a rough patch. Consistently at each others throats almost every time they were in the same room as one another, recently literally. He never agreed with the ideas of space exploration; viewing it as waste of the world's resources. He had brushed off Blake's affection for the topic as a simple phase in the beginning, but as time went along, he grew aggravated with her. She clung to the subject, white-knuckling through the years, never letting anything deteriorate her respect for space.

When her father took the role as the leader of the rebellion, he became more agitated than before. Frustrated at Blake's loyalty, their fights grew more frequent, more violent. Most of the fights ended with her mother splitting them apart and lecturing them both. Her mother's lessons were always in vain, the two would break their promises to her in the matter of a week. Eventually Blake's mother wasn't able to take their hate for each other anymore; she'd left them both to live on her own. Blake had received the blame for her mother's disbandment. Her father played that card too many times in their disputes.

A sufficient mound of earth sat next to a medium sized hole. Blake dropped the shovel into the pit, resting her hands on her knees while she caught her breath. She hobbled her sweaty form to the tailgate, opening it. Tightening her fists in the sight of the carcass, she tugged on the blanket wrapping and pulled it over her shoulder. She hurled her diced father into the makeshift grave.

Blake rounded the truck and reached into the passenger seat, taking the brown bag into her hand. On her ways back to the grave she had dug, she also took the spare gasoline canister from the bed of the vehicle. Setting the plastic container down, she searched through the pouch. After finding the matches inside, she tossed the bag and all its contents into the hole. She uncapped the gasoline can, dressing the evidence in a layer of flammable liquid; once empty, it was thrown into the pit as well. The red tip of a match scraped the side of its box, catching flame, and was dropped into the hole.

The smell of burning flesh filled the immediate area as the flames waved and flickered. Blake's intense stare with the fire reconciled with one of a psychopath's. Her cold, emotionless demeanor had returned; forcing down her feelings. For those few minutes, she felt nothing, she thought nothing. She just watched the fire.

Blake turned to the truck, parked inches before the slope into the lake. Hopping into the drivers seat, she pressed slightly on the gas. As the rear tires moved past the tipping point, she applied the handbrake. Putting her messenger bag over her shoulder, she removed herself from the vehicle and took off the brake.

Reaching the top of the hill, she turned to watch her father's truck roll into the water. The small inferno had extinguished itself and the dirt was pushed back over the remains. Blake patted the reestablished earth flat.

She stood up and crossed her arms. She let out a sigh. And walked back into town.

* * *

"Miss, would you like another round?" A diner waitress asked.

Blake looked up from her book, closing it shut. She glanced back down at the title; ' _Astrophysics: Guide to Space Sciences._ ' Another glance toward the dark country road past the diner's window. Finally, she met eyes with the other woman.

Blake nodded, "Yes. I'd love it." Her palm pressed down hard on the textbook's cover.


	6. Chapter 6: Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We take a shot at what happened in Weiss' life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Gold**

* * *

The Schnee manor was quiet. Its inhabitants spread thin across its adequate amount of square-footage. The sound of a coffee pot straining echoed from the corner of a wide room. It made its place in the white kitchen as the only source of disturbance, besides the noise of graphite scraping itself onto paper.

A young woman sat at a marble island. Books of all sorts spread across the rock sheet. The tip of her pencil almost setting fire to the paper, she was writing so fast. The logo of a familiar snowflake printed on the back of a blue-tinted bolero. Her shoulders shimmied as she worked.

Weiss flipped a page in her textbook, taking note of every imperative detail. She scribbled into her notebook, repeating the formulas she'd been studying from her book. Her pencil recited older and more basic equations as well as the recently acquired ones. Ecstatic spots of azure darted between the sets of escribed paper.

Today wasn't like other days. This day was a day of excitement and achievement. Weiss pleasantly worked through her material merely as a means of distraction. Distracting her from the time as she waited on the notice from a certain college, explaining that she was either accepted or rejected.

Eventually, her scroll buzzed. Weiss' hands snapped to the piece of technology faster than the reflexes of a cat. Expanding the screen, she opened the message. She carefully read over each word in the letter, anticipating the final verdict. As she read the final words, the seventeen-year-old cheered with joy. She jumped out of her seat, smile spread across her face. Clutching the piece of technology close, she rapidly read through the text over and over again. The scroll compacted itself as she looked up. She called for her father and dashed off through the manor.

"Father! Father!" Weiss tripped over herself sprinting into her father's office.

A middle-aged man looked up from his paperwork. An expensive white suit complementing his cool grey hair. Pieces of silver such as a couple rings and a pricey watch were snug against his skin. He removed his reading glasses and scratched his chin. Blue eyes scanned his daughter, attempting to determine the purpose of the interruption.

"Yes, Weiss?" He replied, deciding to not put much thought to it.

Weiss expanded her scroll again, turning it to face her parent, "I got into Newville University!"

Mr. Schnee developed a smile and nodded in approval, "That's fantastic news, darling! You'll get that business degree in no time at all." He propped his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

The girl sighed and looked down at the floor. Her excitement quickly turned to shyness. She took a step forward toward her father's desk, inhaling deeply. The taste of iron made itself known as she bit down on her inner cheek.

"About that, Father…" Weiss' eyes were shifty

"Yes, Weiss?" The man sipped from his mug.

She glanced over her shoulder, peering out the one of the office's many windows. Glossing over all the elements of the manor's exterior. The lush and extravagant gardens, full of exotic plants and flowers from all over the globe. An elegant fountain formed from stone angels made its place in the courtyard. Arrays of white bricks made up the kilometer long driveway that could sustain two large trucks side-by-side. Although not visible, Weiss could remember the amount of acres the property contained, too many for anyone to own. The manor was a picturesque visage of outrageous wealth. And she was giving up, here and now.

Weiss tightened up her stance, "I'm not going for a business degree…"

Her father nearly spat out his beverage, "What? Then what are you going for?"

"I'm going for engineering." She tried to keep a stern look.

"Weiss... Darling…" Mr. Schnee stood from his chair, setting his glasses onto the cherrywood workbench, "I don't understand…"

Weiss noticed her father looked genuinely confused for someone who had known her passion for sometime, "How can you not?"

He stepped around his desk, "It was always your dream to take over the company, darling."

His word triggered a shocked expression from his daughter, almost a look of astonishment, "No. That was never my dream, Father. That was always  _your_ dream…" She looked him up and down, "I can't believe you..."

"Weiss, I-"

"You disapprove of my vision of my future so much... you manifested a false truth of your own daughter?" Weiss raised her voice.

Mr. Schnee was taken back on her outburst, it wasn't like her to rebel, "Weiss! Calm down. There is no need to make such accusations." He sighed and shook his head, "I just don't understand you, Weiss…" He leaned back onto his desk.

"What's not to understand, Father?" The aggravated girl crossed her arms.

"You consistently chase this ridiculous, dangerous dream over this well-established company. You could anything you want with the slightest of ease, but instead you choose to go after the occupation that will underpay you, put shame on you, and put your life at risk repeatedly! The risk outweighs the reward!"

Weiss balled her fists, "You don't understand, do you? It's not about the money. It's about being happy! If I took the company, I wouldn't be happy, I'd just be sad with a pile of lien. And what good is that?" Her eyes met with her father's, "If I went for my dream, I'd be happy as I was fireballed into orbit!"

"Weiss…" Father Schnee moved past Weiss and to the window across from him, letting his palm fall onto the windowsill. He scanned his beautiful estate. The estate he himself, built. Despite the company not being founded himself, it being founded by his own father, he had been the one to foster the most growth to the company. Expanding the distributor greatly in his years of command; increasing dust sales tenfold, establishing Schnee Duct Co. offices and warehouses in all of the kingdoms, and nearly monopolizing the dust industry.

His achievements were not all accomplished through clean and legal means. Repeatedly sabotaging other companies, in media and behind closed doors. He'd also began using cheap faunus labor; which he was not particularly proud of, but it kept the profits rolling in. Though the faunus work force came with a cost, it had painted a bullseye on his company's back, his family's back, and his own back. A war between him and the faunus rights group, the White Fang, had been ongoing throughout the years. Loved ones disappeared and innocent people were executed, and their blood was on his sooty hands.

Weiss knew everything he had done to ensure the expansion of his family's company. She never agreed with it; and most definitely did not wish to have a shady, political mess of a business handed down to her, no matter how much her father wanted it to be. She would be more content to pursue her honest astronaut aspiration, even if it put shame on her. A way to please her and put as much distance between her and the Schnee Dust Co. as possible. It seemed to be a win-win scenario, but it was jumping this final hurdle that made the goal almost impossible to attain.

Father Schnee's hand gestured toward the outside world, "Look at all this. All this company, all I have built," He turned back to his daughter, "And I built it for you, to pass it on to you. To ensure a pleasant and luxurious future for my beautiful daughter. I don't understand why you'd refuse such a wondrous thing."

" _Wondrous?_ " Weiss exaggerated, "If by wondrous you mean the most troubling thing to happen to this family, then yes! It is wondrous!"

"Weiss!" Mr. Schnee scolded, taking offense to her comment, "You-"

"No!" The heiress cut off her parent, "I understand  _perfectly_ , Father. You want to pass down your mistakes and errors so you don't have to work with them anymore. You want me to run this hollow company just so you can leave its problems to me! I don't want the cracked policies, the corrupt politics, the lying, the modern slave labor force, government agencies and rights groups breathing down the back of my neck!"

At this point, Weiss was shouting at her father, whom stood petrified as a deer caught in the headlights, "I want to rid myself of the giant red target you've plastered on me! I want to get away from this company! You! This life! You've have been the source of all my problems! This family's problems! You always say you're trying to give us a better life! But all you've done is hurt others and make so I have to have bodyguards when I go out into public! You've brought more insecurity and jeopardy to this family than peace. And I'm tired of it!"

With feet planted into the wood flooring, Father Schnee took a moment to comprehend what had just occurred before him. His panting daughter, still recovering from her rant, remained in a fighting stance. He studied the power radiating off of her, her profound ability; it's what he needed in an heir. But he needed to surpass this one-woman rebellion and make it so that she will accept the business, whether she approves of it or not.

His spooked look quickly turned his signature straight-faced, commanding stare. Weiss remembered this expression. This was his expression when he'll blatantly ignore something and have only his words listened to; like a true dictator. He stepped to his desk, sitting back into his cushioned chair, and reinstated his spectacles on his nose.

He picked up a silver pen and continued his work, "You'll go for that business degree."

"No!" Weiss her ground.

"You'll receive the business degree and take the company," He carried on his decree as if there were no interruption.

Weiss dug her heels into the floor, "No!"

"And you'll disregard your ridiculous astronaut fantasy."

That's when Father Schnee broke through the thin ice. Weiss balled her fists and countered his order with an proclamation of her own.

"Father. You've always made my decisions for me. And now, for the first time,  _I_ will make my own.  _Right. Here._ " She gritted her teeth, "I'm packing my things and  _I'm leaving_." she turned on her heel and made way for the office doors.

Father Schnee blinked, "Wait! Weiss!" He called, but it was all ineffective. "Weiss!" He jumped from his chair, "Weiss, don't you dare!" He yelled.

Weiss stepped outside the doorframe as her father began to march after her. She retaliated by calmly shutting the twin doors. Tugging on her ribbon around her waist, she removed it from her body and tied it around the gold door handles. Her father ran to the office entrance and rammed the handles forward, but the knotted fabric on the other side refuse to give out.

"Weiss! Untie that, now!" He banged on the glass, "Weiss! Weiss!" His muffled shouts were nothing but a nuisance to Weiss.

With her fists still taut, the no-longer-to-be heiress glared directly at her father for a few moments, silently sending a message. She swiveled her feet, keeping her eyes on her parent for as long as her body would allow before finally turning away. Father Schnee watched with his jaw agape, stunned by his daughters action. His eyes following her until she left his line of sight.

"Weiss!" He roared once more in vain, slamming his fist into the door a couple more times. He grimaced and let out a growl. Stomping back to his desk, he snatched his multi-scroll from its place in the mess of paperwork. Large fingers aggressively tapping a few holographic buttons and placed the scroll to his ear.

He tapped his food as it rang, grunting in disapproval when the person on the other end answered, "Winter."

* * *

An open white suitcase was tossed onto the bed with a thump. Not allowing for the springs of the bed to rest, the bag was quickly unzipped. Weiss sighed and turned to her dresser, remembering which drawers contain what. After deciding what items she was going to take with her, she began her harvest. Hastily, but still carefully, folding the articles of clothing and placing them into the bag.

Weiss was never one of those children who would throw tantrums at small disagreements or not receiving what she asked for, despite the contrary belief of 'pretty rich girls.' She was quite mellow, but clever, becoming more devious and craft than the other younglings. As a result, she never had staged running away from home, like most small ones did at a time in their young life. This experience was new, it was never rehearsed as a child nor planned legitimately in the later years. Obviously the girl was panicked, but she couldn't lose her composure now, not at this crucial moment.

Midway through packing her things, there was a light knock on her open door. Weiss' body stiffened, mentally preparing herself to look over her shoulder and discover who was disturbing her. Tightening her fist and inhaling, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Weiss?" A soft voice spoke up.

Weiss' eyes snapped open as she spun her head around, meeting her sister. Feeling relief, she exhaled. Winter was an all around good person. She was there during most of Weiss' hardships, giving advice and comforting her. Though the thick and thin; the pressure of going on stage, the happy accidents, the fights, the loss of loved ones. They'd been through it all; together.

A tiny smirk made itself known on Weiss' lips, "Has Father sent you to stop me?"

"Yes…" Winter nodded, taking a few small steps forward, "But I think I can say you put up a fight and got away." She laughed softly.

"Thanks," Weiss' happy expression grew bigger. She went back to bundling her belongings.

"So, you're really leaving, huh?"

The shorter sister bobbed her head yes.

"Good. I'm glad one of us finally stood up to him." Winter patted the snowflake on Weiss' back, "Where are you going?"

The runaway dashed around the bedroom, gathering items to put in her suitcase, "Well, I'm going to try heading for Atlas, for college, but that may be difficult." She zipped her bag shut, "Considering the ocean."

The room was silent for brief moment, "After what Father told me, Weiss. I thought you might need a little help," Untwining her hands from behind her back, she revealed a large stack of lien in her hand. Winter gestured it towards Weiss.

Weiss looked down at the ridiculous amount of cash and was absolutely touched, "Winter...where did you get this? Our allowance-"

"I'd been saving a little bit of each allowance of the years…" Winter placed the lien into her sister's hand, taking her other and cupping them together; sheltering it, "For a rainy day."

"W-Winter...I-I can't take this...this is your money, it's-"

"I don't want to hear it…" The big sister smiled, "You're right. It's my money, so I'm choosing to give it to you. It'll help you for airfare, rent an apartment, food. Today's a rainy day, Weiss."

Feeling the stack of chips in her palms, Weiss realized just how massive the pile was, "Oh my….How much is here, Winter?"

"Twenty-five thousand." Winter spoke without missing a beat.

Weiss shot up to meet her siblings eyes, a couple tears forming, "Winter….Thank you…" She threw her arms around Winter, whom reciprocated.

"Will I see you again, Sister?" The taller one asked with a snivel.

Hiding her face with the hug, Weiss replied, "I don't know."

"So this is goodbye?"

"Yes...I love you, Winter…"

"I love you too, Weiss…"

A tear fell onto the carpet below.


	7. Chapter 7: Do I Wanna Know?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ice begins to break between our two cosmonauts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Do I Wanna Know?**

* * *

The spacecraft was ever so quiet. Only the creaks and groans from the vessel made themselves known. It had been over two weeks since the launch; and this eerie silence made its own in that amount of time. The astronauts dared not to speak a sound. They had even began to avoid one another as if they were an infectious disease. If one of them entered a module with the other inside it, the other would quickly gather their things and exit as soon as possible; the only communication between them would be a stare. Now, after two weeks of giving and receiving glares from each other, the isolation was beginning to weigh down on them.

Now without the need to fly the craft for about two years, the astronauts were left with little to occupy them. They had smuggled some books on board, but one can only read the same book over and over again before becoming dull and boring. Weiss had organized and reorganized the food rations while Blake checked the functions of the ship constantly. The workout equipment was another remedy to left-for-dead-in-space-boredom. But what they did the most was think. Thoughts of home, family, good times, what will happen tomorrow, how well the ship will do during reentry, what will  _Nikos-3a_  be like, could they live on the planet. The amount of unanswered questions was driving them to insanity as they silently looked out the viewport.

Blake opened the entrance to the life support module. Her sight immediately caught view of the platinum-haired cosmonaut dining at the single pearlescent booth. Lifting her wrist up to examine her watch, she sighed. She had waited as long as she could before her schedule demanded she eat again. Her attempt to out wait Weiss had failed and, now she had to face the consequences. Treading lightly on the aluminum flooring, she moved to the wall of compartments, which was directly to the right of Weiss. Immediately finding the correct locker and opening it, removing two sealed silver pouches.

No reaction was granted by Weiss when the pouches were dropped onto the table with a smack. Blake seated herself across from the woman and fumbled with the plastic. She pulled and tore at the shiny packet, even resorting to gnawing. The crunching and crinkling reverberating from the attempt of opening the food was gaining the attention of Weiss. She glanced up from her entree, popping a bite of her freeze-dried delicacy into her mouth with her fingers as she watched Blake struggle. Though the faunus was too busy with her chew toy.

Weiss chuckled, freezing the other woman mid-chomp. Blake looked up with the plastic still between her teeth, like a puppy caught chewing a shoe. She pulled the pouch from her mouth.

"Is something funny?" Blake raised her brow, ending the their speech hiatus.

Weiss snickered, looking away from her copilot "Yes"

"Do my hardships amuse you?" The faunus pointed to herself, feeling insulted.

"No…" A soft laugh escaped Weiss' mouth, "No, it's not that…"

Blake tilted her head, "Then what is it?"

"We're on an experimental spacecraft, a pinnacle of engineering and technology." The azure-eyed engineer crossed her arms, "We have the technology to journey beyond our solar system. We can calculate trajectories of giant rocks in a vacuum, make food last years," She gestured to their meals, "Yet we're defeated by the simplest things; case in point," She nodded at the saliva-edged food packet.

Blake expression her thoughts on the statement with a simple, "Huh…"

"I just thought that was funny." Weiss added, "Here...let me…" She pulled the pouch to her and tore it open along its front, exposing the not-so-appetizing meal beneath. Blake carefully watched as it pushed back to her. She blinked a few times, taken by the friendly action. From what she'd seen from Weiss, this wasn't like her, she'd usually behave as if she was a queen and everyone else were her subjects. A gesture such as this was uncommon, for Weiss to deliver and for Blake to receive.

To any other normal being, it would have been seen as a simple act of kindness. Though Blake wasn't a normal being, especially after what she'd done. She finished college on her own, with no support, not even from her mother. Help from her friends was nonexistent; they had all been jailed or killed in riots or hate crimes. Her life was always on her shoulders and that weight sometimes felt like too much. No one offered a hand to pick her up after she'd broken down into a bawling mess. A panicking, scared, nearly insane bawling mess. This was a sign of a turning point.

Weiss leaned in, "Blake, are you ok?"

"Yes...It's just," Blake dried her wet eyes with her palm, "Just ever since...No one's helped me since then…" Her nose sniffled.

"I think I can relate…" Weiss stared down at the table, "The last bit of help I had ever received was from my sister...ten years ago as of last month."

Blake regained most of her composure. She lifted a slice of a freeze-dried banana and placed it into her mouth; swallowing, "What happened?"

Weiss observed her twiddle her fingers against one another, "I was seventeen. It was the day I received my acceptance letter from Newville University. I was ecstatic." A tiny smirk forming on her lips, "I went to show my father the letter. He was happy for me…" The smile faded away. Blake angled her head slightly, attentive spots of amber watching her co-pilot. Weiss glanced up at Blake, "Until I told him I was majoring in engineering. We got into a fight. Which on it's own meant something, since I never fought with my father. I'd always followed the decisions he made for me without question. And I wasn't going to do it again." She swallowed hard, "He was going to force me into a business major and make me take his damn company. So I finally decided for myself. I told him I was leaving then locked him in his office."

"Do I regret it?" Weiss asked herself as she turned to the viewport and  _Nikos_ , "Yes. Why?" She looked back into Blake's eyes, "Because that day, she gave me all the money she had...and I told my sister I was probably never going to see her again. I didn't. Now I never will."

Blake scanned the room, avoiding eye contact. Her hands tightened under the table and she spoke very softly, "At least you had option to see the person you loved again all those years…That on its own you should appreciate."

Her words caused Weiss to give her a concerned look, "Blake...what happened...in your life?"

Nervously peering back, Blake inhaled and loosened her fist. Her eye's shifted as she considered whether or whether not she should tell her partner. Examining her situation, she'd decided to release her dark information. She was going to die with this person. She deserved to know.

"Weiss...when I tell you...you have to promise me you won't judge me." Blake bit the inside of her cheek, "Or be frightened of me."

Seeming slightly surprised and confused by that last request, Weiss furrowed her brow. It was certainly strange; it aroused worry within her. She pushed her anxiety aside and spoke up, "Blake. There is no room for judgement or fear here anymore."

Blake nodded and took a deep breath, "What I'm about to tell you. I've only told to one other soul." She gulped, "About five years ago, I was coming home from a long day of work and school. I was living with my father, whom you may know as the founder of the White Fang, and was almost done with college." Her hand gently accented her words, "Now, my father, like yours, disproved of the 'astronaut dream;' though much more than yours. He thought of it as a waste of his tax dollars. As result, we had a violent relationship, and our fights drove my mother away. We still loved each other somehow in the end, but it was never enough to keep us peaceful." Her head shook left and right, "I walked into my home and tried to sneak past my dad. It didn't work, he caught me. He tried to be lighthearted about it, until he saw my astrophysics textbook sticking out of my bag. We got into a really bad fight, the worst we ever had." Blake's gaze was completely blank.

Her eyes locked with Weiss, "He put a knife to my throat. He was going to kill me and blame my death on humans to boost morale. So I had no choice. Only one of us was going to walk out of there."

Weiss leaned in closer. Her hand slid across the table, meeting Blake's on the other side. She rested her palm on the aviator's digits, comforting her with a nod, "It's ok. I understand."

The touch was enough to muster up a considerable amount of courage. Knowing now she had more than a co-pilot, an engineer, a navigator; she had a friend. Someone after five long years had decided to lift a finger at her burdens, to acknowledge their existence and attempt to comprehend them. She realized that Weiss was never trying to judge her or label her, it had been the reverse. Weiss had saw the fracture within Blake's being and wanted to help it along to recovery. Weiss had experienced the same injury she had and obtained the knowledge to treat it. But she wasn't allowed to, because Blake wouldn't let her in and examine the wound.

Blake's back straightened itself. Her shoulders made themselves taut, "I murdered him, Weiss. Then I burned his body and put his truck in a lake." The blank expression upon her face returned, though with a different meaning, "I tried going back to my mother, but she didn't want me after I told her what happened; she forced me out of her life. So I continued my life. On my own."

Azure eyes carefully watched the other. Weiss was not afraid, as she promised, but she felt sympathy. It was just as she predicted back on Remnant. They were the same. Fighting their own battles for their passion. She donned a friendly smirk.

"I told you we were alike." Her comment summoned a chuckled from Blake, which turned into a soft laugh shared between them.

A smile made itself on Blake's lips, "Yeah. I suppose we are." Another small laugh came from her.

The engineer's smirk kept itself up, she looked out the viewport at the stars, "Blake?"

"Yes?"

Weiss turned back to her co-pilot, "You never told me why you loved space so much."

Blake stared at the alien sun through the booth's porthole, "Weiss. Look at that."

" _Nikos_?" Weiss asked to check if her answer was correct.

"No...I mean, Yes. Just... all of it. Space in its entirety."

Flame cascaded off of the sun's plasma surface like huge waves in a ocean. Tiny dots of blackness were scarce among the star's light. Those were planets, two or three currently marked by their shadow. Giant rocks, unbelievably massive and molded into a sphere by the forces of gravity; in which swung them around their bright parent. Rocks, planets made up of iron and nickel, art created by chaotic forces over millions and billions of years. And then those planets were living creatures themselves; boiling, melting, churning magma under their crust. The hot liquid rock beneath their surfaces constantly recycling and reshaping their shell. Some decided to start producing life, green plants and possibly animals.

Each white dot on top of the dark background only represented how many times this beauty may be repeated. Stars, young, middle-aged, and old; blue, yellow, and red, each with the possibility of carrying planets of their own with them through the vacuum in an elegant dance of physics. It was a picture of perfect randomized beauty; a picture that represent life and all its mysteries. It was something that the two cosmonauts could agree with. The utmost allure of the space ballet was something to appreciate.

"It's amazing in every way, shape, or form." Blake looked back to Weiss, "Now imagine that you, your family, everyone you loved, your entire species was shoved into a corner. Treated like animals, lesser beings. When you're struggling to even keep a smile up, you need something to pull you through the worst. Some chose people, some chose philosophy and religion, then some chose to dream."

Weiss interjected, "And this was your dream?"

Blake shook her head no, "Not at first. First I had dreamed of escaping. Just leaving. Getting away from it all. I wanted to go somewhere completely awe-inspiring, where I wouldn't have the ability to look back. Then some time past, and I saw the lunar landing."

Veering her gaze to the outside again, she continued, "That absolutely amazed me. I saw man walk on the surface of our moon. The grey surface of our moon. At the moment I decided  _that's_  where I wanted to go. I decided I wanted to go out there, to the moon and beyond. I wanted to see these giant constructs that no human could perceive or imagine. The stars, planets, gas giants, asteroid belts, all of it. Because thinking about the complexity and immensity of them could block out any other thoughts."

"Well, you made it, Blake. You're here." Weiss said softly.

"But at what cost?" The aviator's head fell into her palm.

"It doesn't matter the cost, Blake." Weiss tugged at Blake's attention, "You followed what you wanted. You were willing to stand up. And that's all that matters. I of all people should know that and so should you."

Blake stared off to the left, "Unlike you, Weiss, I didn't stand up for this dream much in the past."

"Are you joking, Blake?" The engineer was taken back, "You  _killed your father_  for this dream. Yes, it's morbid, but if that's not standing up for yourself, I don't know what is. And you were alone in this. At least I had some help in the beginning. But you, you stood up and took the worst." Her shoulders relaxed, "And I respect you for that, Blake."

"But Blake," She sipped her 'juice,'"I don't like when you put yourself down like that. How many things have you done that no one else can say they've done? In just this month, you were shot into space! Which that on its own, has only a small group of people that could claim that achievement;" Weiss leaned in close, "Though you're the only faunus that can. But you went further. You docked the head of the most monumental spacecraft to date." Her finger tapped down on the table, "You controlled and flew that vessel; twenty light years. What person, besides me of course, can say they traveled twenty light years to an alien sun! To see another star like we saw our own! So, whenever you feel like you're not good enough, remember that," Azure locked with amber, "If not for you, but for your copilot."

Blake chewed on the edges of her teeth

With another sip of 'juice,' Weiss' motivation speech was finished, but she added, half-heartedly, "Also, I was right again. We are the same, just as predicted." She chuckled, returning to her normal queen-like self.

The table grew still after the statement. There was few moments of silence; though broken by a hearty laugh from Blake.

"What is it?"

"Just what you said, about us being the same," Blake smiled, "I just thought it was funny."


	8. Chapter 8: Ground Control to Major Tom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew discuss some pressing topics and maintenance their ship as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Ground Control to Major Tom**

* * *

The astronaut's vessel had been spiraling towards its destination for near half a year now. In those six months, the aviator and engineer had come to terms with their fate, and further developed their friendship. The spoke with one another frequently, discussing and debating books and events that they obtained fair knowledge of; racial affairs, grimm surveys, recent findings in technology and space. They learned more of each other's difficult past, and the few beacons of light that help them through the days, weeks, or months.

Recently, Blake had noticed something not quite right with her relatively new acquaintance. Over the last week, she had become less and less talkative. Their relationship seemed as if it had reverted to the first two weeks aboard the  _Beacon_. That awkwardness resurfaced, though neither avoided one another, in fact it had almost seemed Weiss was keeping closer to Blake than before. Today it was the point where Weiss wasn't even attempting contact anymore. She just ate and stared out the ship's viewport in their resting quarters.

Her current radio silence worried the faunus. Blake had tasked herself with staying in same room as her, to watch for any signs of sickness or distress. She sat on the bed, against the wall and disguised her mission with a painfully reread book. Every half hour or so she'd peer over the book and each time she'd see the same sight; Weiss, hand propping her head, looking the tiny window. She'd finish each viewing with a short sigh and return to her literature.

After what her wristwatch indicated was about four hours, Weiss finally spoke up.

"Blake?" Her sudden response startled Blake, jumping a bit in her seat.

The faunus closed her nearly complete book and set it on the bunk, "Yes, Weiss?"

Weiss' head turned to Blake. Her eyelids were kept low as well as her voice, "Blake...If I ever...If I…" She sighed, shook her head, and looked back out the window again.

Blake crept across the room to her disturbed co-pilot, "What is it?" She sat down on the bunk with her. Amber eyes studied the engineer's still form. Based on the look in her eyes, Weiss wasn't distressed or anxious, she was quite calm of all things. But she was almost too calm.

With her sights still set for the stars, Weiss attempted to redress her dilemma, "If I ever...succumb to space madness, Blake..." She looked back to Blake, a seriousness developing in her pupils, "Will you promise me...that you'll put me in the airlock…"

"No…" Blake whispered

"And jettison me. And don't look back."

A sincere stare was shared between them, "I can't do that, Weiss." Blake shook her head.

"Blake, if I lose to insanity, I can be a very real danger. I have a lot of anger still with me. I may kill you...or rip apart the ship. You have to do it if I lose my mind."

Blake stood her ground, "You understand why I can't do that, Weiss. I cannot kill again, I refuse to."

"If it happens, you have to, for your own safety."

"No." Blake looked down at the metal floor, "I may lock you up, but I would try to save you. No matter how far gone you are." Weiss tilted her head to somewhat face Blake, whom angled her head back up to the engineer. Her eyes were wet, holding back her strong emotions, "Because, whether you know it or not, in the last six months you've become the closest thing to a friend I've ever had. You are a person that cares about me. I can't let a person like that go like that, not without a fight."

Weiss straightened up slightly, taking a breath and a moment to think. She knew Blake didn't have many acquaintances in the past, but if she was the  _closest_  to thing to a friend to her, that spoke a lot. She understood how friends would do amazing things to aid one another, but Weiss knew when to stop trying to help a person, when it was too late. Even if it was Winter on this ship with her, she'd jettison her own sister if she became too broken to repair; for the good of both of them.

"Blake. I just hope you know. When it comes to the time of action, for either of us, we have to do what needs to be done," Weiss nodded gently, "I'd do to it to you, if I had to."

Blake perked up in what seemed to be offense, but extinguished her fuse before she exploded, "Weiss, I understand. Somethings have to be done. But my point is that it doesn't also have to be done a certain way, you can try another method."

"And if it doesn't work?" Weiss raised her brow in question, "I don't believe either of us would be able to take seeing each other like that, Blake, at least for long periods of time."

"And if we do jettison one another?" Blake answered with a question, "You would have to spend the rest of your life  _alone_ ," She focused on her partner, "Do you want that again, Weiss? I'm guessing not. Not to add you might join my ranks just from being isolated in the spacecraft. And Weiss-" Her explanation halted.

Weiss held her index finger in the air, silently ordering Blake to quiet herself and listen. Azure dots scanned the interior of the vessel. The two lights above them fluttered for a second before returning to normal. Their eyes connected amid the observation session. Suddenly a loud, dull thud reverberated through the craft and the lights went dark, causing pitch blackness. The two women held their positions until dim red emergency lights powered on.

"Cockpit?" Blake asked, still frozen

"Now."

The aviator jumped to her feet and yanked down the ladder.

* * *

The second cockpit door was pushed forward by a brunette while a platinum-haired woman with an engineering degree sprinted past her for the controls. She toggled and re-toggled a selection of overhead switches, along with some on the dash. None of which were responding. Blake watched as Weiss started to curse out the technology.

"No, no, no! No!" The controls were dead, "Dammit!" Her fist pounded on the hood of the dash, "We're running the reserve fuel cells."

Blake stepped behind her, interjecting, "Any theories?"

Weiss scratched her chin, "The reactor couldn't have powered off. SNAP-Class reactors can run for decades with the minimal amount of uranium."

"What about that thud? What was that?" The aviator pointed behind her with her thumb.

"A panel most likely." Weiss' hand fell to her thigh, "Maybe a power coupling overloaded. If it were to, it would cause a small, breach-like explosion, enough to blow off a panel but not to damage the ship. That would explain the the thud."

Blake looked around the cabin, focus landing on the emergency lights, "We have a blown power coupling. How long do we have to fix it?"

"Not long." Weiss shook her head, "We only have about two, two and a half hours to fix the coupling before life support begins to fail."

"Let's stop the ship from spinning and suit up." Blake met her co-pilot's gaze and sighed, "I hope you like long walks on the beach."

* * *

The airlock opened with a hiss, then there was utter silence, except for their breathing. The two astronauts stood at the edge of the craft wearing state of the art orange spacesuits. The suits were extremely slim, lightweight, and tough compared to their old heavy, bulky models. The lab boys back on Remnant had removed the large backpack of oxygen and replaced with several small packets of oxygen in the lining of the suit, it reduced weight and the danger of a punctured tank.

Blake stood at the front and was the first to see the stars amuck the blackness, which reminded her to flip on her flashlights. She concentrated on her breathing as she looked down into the abyss. One tiny shove from being in deep space. She tilted her head up to see the core of the vessel and the SNAP reactor between the two first rings. Her digits were tight around the handle inside the airlock as she prepared herself to leave the craft. For a few moments, only the sound of O₂ flow was shared between them.

"Testing, Testing. B, Do you copy?" Weiss' procedural voice came through her comms.

The aviator stared off into the black, "I copy, Loud and clear, W."

"Check tethers." The two tugged on the clips connected to their suits and then the other ends attached to the airlock interior, "Tethers are a go on this side, over."

"Tethers are a go on this side as well, over and out."

"Whenever you're ready, B," Weiss looked over her partner's shoulder, "Just remember we're on the clock, out"

Blake nodded in her helmet, "Roger, W," She inhaled, "Beginning walk, out" She pulled herself to the right, her left arm reach out into nothing. Her extended hand swiftly moved in an arc to meet a handle on the exterior of the craft. Her breath stuttered as she firmly clamped down on the rung and carefully swung around to the outside, her right hand meeting her left. Now perched on the thickest ring in microgravity, Blake opened up her comms.

"Walk is a go." Her uplink beeped, "Beginning ascent toward the reactor, over."

Weiss now floated at the edge of the airlock, waiting for Blake, "Copy that, B. Waiting on you, out."

Looking up at her destination, Blake pushed herself up. It was almost like climbing a ladder underwater, except the ocean was a ventablack vacuum. There was nothing to push or pull against but the spacecraft she clung to. She felt Weiss take up position on the ladder, feeling the vibrations through the aluminum plates. Weiss confirmed her place on the exterior through their uplink. They quickly fell silent as they climbed sluggishly, listening to their oxygen flow.

"Blake?" Weiss asked, breaking the formalities.

"Go ahead, Weiss." Blake saw the light from her partner's flashlights sink down before moving back up.

The engineer sighed, "I've been meaning to ask you this, Blake...How did you feel...when you…"

"Killed my father?" Blake finished, "Panicked, nervous, lost, scared-"

"No," Weiss cut her answer off, "I mean overall. At the end how did you  _really_  feel?" At this, the aviator ahead of her stopped on the ladder.

Blake turned outwardly, one hand still latched on the rung, to glance down at Weiss. She swallowed, "You really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Honestly, Weiss. I felt relieved," Blake went back to her ascent, "Call me a killer, but...I could finally be me without reprimandation."

Weiss blinked and looked past her co-pilot to see they were just about at the ship's core, "Okay, B, you know what to do? Over," She reinstated the orthodox methods.

"Open the marked panel and initiate power flow through the reserve coupling? Over."

"Affirmative, out."

Weiss quietly watched Blake move up a few more steps before stopping. She gazed at the scene confused, her partner was a foot away from the core of the ship and four feet from the reactor, she couldn't stop now.

"W, We have a problem. The tether is too short." The was a pause, "I'm going to have to untether, over."

Weiss spotted the white line pulled tight, "Negative, B. It's too dangerous. We're in deep space with no support. We'll go back get a longer tether, over."

"Negative, W. These are the longest tethers. We have to activate that reserve power coupling or have the life support fail. I have to untether and float over, over."

Azure eyes shifted for a moment before Weiss grimaced, cursing mentally, "Copy that. You are greenlit for untethering. Be careful, out."

"Will comply, W," Blake's hand was shaky as she unclipped the strip from her suit's harness, "I am untethered, I repeat, I am untethered. Standby for status."

Still close to the ladder, Blake used her flashlights to scan the surface she was about to jump to, searching for anything stable she could grab. She spied the panel, a red-striped triangle with an explanation point printed on it. Directly above it was long yellow bar, well-built enough to not break off if she were to grab it.

Her fingers gently pressed on the ladder once, just enough to achieve a small amount of momentum. She bent her knees, allowing for more freedom as she rotated and to preparing to launch herself. Feline ears twitched inside her head sock, patiently waiting for her chance to pounce at the yellow bar. Degree by degree the goal aligned itself with her. Then came the moment truth; she pushed her feet down.

For two or three seconds she was alone in deep space, though it felt like hours. Both of the cosmonauts held their breath as she bridged the gap. Her hand stretched as far as her body would allow, but she didn't think it was enough. She was afraid she would miss and skid along the core of the spacecraft until she floated away from the back end and forced to watch her only hope drift away from her. To her relief, her prediction was proved wrong when her fingers wrapped themselves around the yellow bar.

In that second, both women let their lungs continue working. Blake grabbed the bar with her free hand and paused for a moment, enjoying the brief period of respite.

"W, I've made contact with the target. Opening the panel now, out" The faunus pulled herself up to become eye level with panel. She easily found and took hold of the small metal handle and proceed to pull back on it. And pull back on it. And pull back on it.

Blake grunted as she tried once more, "The panel isn't opening, over"

"Is there any sort of latch on the panelbox? Over." Weiss replied

A quick search of all four sides of the rectangle revealed nothing, "Negative, W, over."

Weiss closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she rummaged for an explanation to the problem, "The mechanism is probably stuck, B. The only way to surpass that is by force, out."

"Copy that, W. Standby for status." Blake pressed her palm into the yellow bar for support as she pulled the other hand. Beads of sweat started to trickle down her forehead. She loosened up muscles and tried another long pull at the handle, but no avail. She decided to change method to short, powerful yanks.

First yank, the panel began to give in, causing Blake to smirk at her soon-coming succes. Second yank, the panel was nearly open, she prepared her sore arm for a third attempt. Third yank, "BLAKE!"

The worst case scenario unfolded.

The panel bursted open with an unanticipated amount of force. Flinging Blake out of her grip and off the spacecraft. Out into deep space. Where she'd either be toasted to a crisp by the heat, exposed to high levels of cosmic radiation, suffocate, or all three. She began hyperventilating, Weiss was shouting her name over the comms, she was spinning out control. Sun, blackness, sun, blackness, sun, blackness, over and over again. Weiss kept shouting words, but Blake couldn't understand them or respond.

Then everything just went black.


	9. Chapter 9: Major Tom to Ground Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From hell and back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please listen to 'Space Oddity' by David Bowie before reading this chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Major Tom to Ground Control**

* * *

Weiss watched as her co-pilot spiralled head over heels, away from her and the spacecraft, out into the blackness. Holding on to the ladder as her friend and the only person within twenty light years floated towards the other stars. From this distance, she was able to depict Blake's spinning body as immobile.

"Blake! Come in, Blake!" She got no response. In another desperate attempt, she relayed the message again, still no response. The faunus' radio silence could only mean three things, she's petrified or in shock, she's unconscious, or the unthinkable; she was dead. Weiss shook her head; she couldn't be dead, it wasn't her time. Another try with radio contact failed, causing her to curse out and punch the aluminum ship beneath her.

Looking up, she spotted Blake's tether effortlessly drifting in the vacuum. The piece of equipment caused some anger to arise within her calm form. But the reminder of her friend allowed for her to recall her own tether. Her hands fumbled with the space rope hooked to her waist until she claimed a firm grasp of it. Like a game of tug of war, Weiss pulled against the ship's weight to bring her closer to the airlock.

Her comm link opened again, "Blake. Stay with me. I can't lose you, not now! Don't you dare do it!" She shouted as yanked the tether.

She had gained a considerable amount of momentum from her tugging, resulting in her frame being violently halted by the inside wall of the airlock. As her right shoulder and spine impacted the wall, she screamed in pain, gritting her teeth. Her vision was clouded by the moisture in her eyes. The brunt of the impact stung; she could already feel the bruises from her popped blood vessels already beginning to bring agony. She pushed aside her pain and reached for the green button on the other side of the tiny room with her damaged arm.

The tip of her fingers grazed the button, but it was just enough to trigger its functions. The airlock door slammed shut and followed its procedure to pressurize itself with oxygen. Weiss steadied herself inside, both hands pressed to both sides of the capsule, again having to ignore the stinging pain reverberating from her vertebrae. Her anxiety grew with each passing second and the airlock seemed to take years to pressurize. Finally the mechanism beeped and the interior door slid open.

Another signal was transmitted to her possibly dead co-pilot as she pulled and pushed her way through the insides of the spacecraft. Hastily examining the laboratory she floated in with shaky eyes. She found the two Manned Maneuvering Units strapped down to the wall across from her and made an effort to drift over to it. Her feet pressed down on the floor, pushing her toward her goal. An extended hand grabbed one of the arms of the MMU and used it to pulled her into its grasp.

Once her back flattened to it, it automatically started connecting itself to her suit. As the MMU drilled into her suit, she stared across the modules, glaring at the airlock door. Her friend was out there, getting farther and farther away as she sat waiting for her technology to catch up to her pace. She felt her heart beating faster than escape velocity along with her long heavy breath. She growled and disconnected the MMU from the wall. Another shove with the soles of her feet launched her to the airlock door, which slid away with the touch of a button.

Her anger grew as the airlock performed its procedure. Rage coursed through her veins, intensifying the more she blamed this on herself. Thoughts racing, yelling at her that she could've done something different, that she was at fault for letting Blake attempt the repair. They convinced she could have changed the outcome, done whatever to make sure this result wouldn't have existed; even the choice of taking Blake's place.

The airlock finished and the door opened. Her left and right hand cooperating with the control of the MMU to maneuver herself outside the ship. Flaring azure eyes searched the nothingness for her floating partner. A strobing light marked her spot against the other stars, her flashlight was still on. Estimating her course, she lined up with Blake and punched it. The MMU carrying her quickly away from the _Beacon_ spacecraft and towards her co-pilot. The danger of this scenario was immense; Blake could be dead, Weiss could run out of fuel, the ship may run out of power, the clock was ticking.

Following her emotions of rage came fear, as she realized she too was now in deep space, separated from her mothership. Spying the  _Beacon_ drifting just out of her peripherals. She snapped her head forward and focus on her goal. Centering her thought on Blake and her controls, pushing away any other brainwaves.

Blake. Speed. Blake. Speed. Blake. Blake. Speed. Blake. Blake. Blake.

Her head angling down as she focused completely on her growing target. Enlarging from a strobe light to a faint form of a human being. Just then Weiss rubberbanded out of her mental state when she realized she was approaching her target too fast. She desperately burned her reverse thrusters, attempting to match their speed and stop her from crashing into Blake.

To her relief, the thrusters were powerful enough to slow her velocity down a dozen meters away from Blake. So close to her goal, Weiss carefully nudged the control to gain her one meter per second, then back to two feet, then back to one foot, then back to a few inches. The immobile body of Blake floated gently into Weiss' arms. Her jaw quivered as she saw Blake's face, gulping to hold back tears. Blots of crimson drifted inside her helmet.

"Blake. Blake…" She whispered, "It'll be alright. It'll be ok. It'll be ok. It'll be….okay…" She shed a single tear.

* * *

She strained to open her eyes. The light above her was oh so bright, obtaining a luminosity beyond more stars. Her palm was raised to block the intense rays of light from her hurt retinas. The light leaking from the cracks in her fingers were still too radiant for the visual organ to withstand. Was she dead? The last thing she remembered was trying to open the reverse power coupling panel. No, she couldn't be dead. This all felt too real, or is that what death is like?

Eventually her pupils dilated themselves to intensity of the light, revealing where she was. Resting her hand allowed her to see she was staring at the ceiling of the resting quarters. She turned her head to the right, blinking a few times to moisten her eyes. On her flat, tiny plastic excuse for a nightstand sat a book, a silver pouched beverage, and a food ration. Her body ached; she gently reached out to grab the drink standing on the white plastic. Holding it close to her view, she read its contents, relieved to see it was just water. She eagerly sipped from its specially designed straw, taking the H₂O like it was sweet nectar.

In the distance, she heard a slow tune from the other module. Which was strange, since neither had brought music with them. And neither enjoyed classic rock much.

Her elbow propped her torso up as she listened.

' _This is Major Tom to Ground Control._   _I'm stepping through the door. And I'm floating in a most peculiar way. And the stars look very different today_ '

She tilted her head as the song continued, believing for a moment that maybe she had died.

' _For here...Am I sitting in a tin can. Far above the world. This planet is blue. And there's nothing I can do.'_

Feline ears pointed to the direction of the music, improving its quality, and picking up approaching footsteps.

' _Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles. I'm feeling very still. And I think my spaceship knows which way to go. Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows'_

Following at the end of the line, a stressed Weiss stepped into the resting quarters, her thumb and index finger rubbing her forehead. She sighed and dropped her hand to her thigh, freezing when she saw her co-pilot awake. A gasp preceded a light smile, which exploded into Weiss lunging at her injured friend. Her arms wrapped around Blake, bringing her close. A small laugh mixed with some tears were released by Weiss.

"Don't ever do that again, Blake." She ordered and let go of the faunus, "How are you feeling?"

Blake set her palm on her forehead, causing her to flinch to sharp pain, "I-I'm fine...just my head…"

"Oh, here," Weiss took Blake's hand, placing a cold pack into her digits, "If you need it."

"Thank you…" Blake lightly pressed the pack to her pain, "Weiss...What happened?"

Weiss looked up at Blake's patch that wrapped itself around her head. She sighed and sat down by the faunus' feet.

"You were flung out into space when you opened the panel." Her eyes stared at the ground, "You became unresponsive. And I rushed to get inside" She put a hand on her injured shoulder, wincing, causing Blake's ears to stiffen. "I got the MMU and went after you, completely leaving everything behind. When I got to you," She turned to face Blake, "You were bleeding very badly; you almost drowned in your own blood before I got you here. I had to leave you floating while I went out and fixed the coupling."

For a second time on this mission, Weiss had done something very, very few would do for her. Blake had to save herself before, she had no help. Something was different here, their relationship something wasn't quite the same to others. Weiss would do things without asking for anything in return, not even using her good deeds as leverage afterwards. Perhaps it was their sad situation or maybe it was something else, she didn't know. But it was  _there_ , just in the air.

Weiss' gaze drifted off as she continued her explanation, "I had to stop your bleeding before I initiated the artificial gravity or else you might've lost too much blood. Do you know how difficult it is to treat a wound microgravity, Blake?" She joked, "I just finished cleaning all your blood off the floor...and the ceiling...and the walls…" She remembered dropping into the modules to see crimson splattered along the interior from when she spun the ship up, "And...you…" Her cheeks flushed somewhat, as well did Blake's. An awkwardness between them making itself known. The music faded out.

"I don't remember bringing music…" Blake decided to change the subject

"I guess  _ASA_ wasn't all that cruel when they sent us here forever," Weiss concluded, "I found a stashed drive with a whole music library on it, but then again it is mostly classic rock. At least its something to listen to…" She looked down at her feet, "I also found something else stashed away if you think you're well enough to have some fun with it."

Blake sat up and nodded, giving a small one-sided smile.

* * *

"Checkmate." Blake announced finishing her move, a Weiss sitting across from her with her mouth agape. "Is that the third chess match in a row I've won?" She smirked

The defeated woman looked up from the chessboard, "Well. Now we definitely know your mind is certainly intact," She crossed her arms with a wince.

"You ok, Weiss?" Blake raised her brow, watching her rubbed her shoulder.

"I'm fine...just some bruises…" Weiss let her hand fall off her shoulder, "Another match?"

The champion accepted the challenge with a nod. Lifting and placing her black game pieces to their destined squares on the board. She spied her challenger from across the table, still prodding her shoulder. Plopping her king onto the black square, she watched it rattle and quickly fixed itself upright. She looked up from board and up the ceiling, examining her metal chariot.

That song from when she woke up had been playing again, ' _Ground Control to Major Tom, Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong. Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom?_ '

Her head bobbed once with a, "Hmm…" as she thought about the lyrics of the piece. Whoever Major Tom was, he seemed to be in a similar position as them. Stuck far from the planet, in his tin can of a capsule. Though he seems content with his position, that he's accepted his end or that he believes being stuck out there was for the best. Or maybe he wanted it to happen, seeing as before whatever happened to him he wished his wife love. He just wanted an end, a peaceful end, to everything.

It made her think of what  _she_  wanted out of this, what  _Weiss_  wanted out of this. They were doing it for them, weren't they? Was  _this_  the reason they were so comfortable with their placement; because they knew they weren't coming back? That they would never see their home again, that they'd die on another planet. Did that thought make them angrier or calmer?

Blake gazed blankly at Weiss, not directly focusing on her as she thought. She watched as Weiss' mouth moved, though she only realized what the woman had been saying after she snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"Blake? Blake? CDR to Blake?" Weiss attempted to pull the aviator from the dream state.

Blake shook her head into reality, "W-What? What is it?"

"It's your turn, Blake."

"Huh?" She looked down to see a white pong now a pace ahead of a white knight, "Oh…" Blake moved her black pong in front of her king two spaces. "Weiss?"

"Hmm…" The engineer placed her left knight on the black square to her right, "Yes?"

"Do you think…" Blake slid her queen diagonally to the C column, in the line of her enemy's exposed knight, "We're better off like this?"

Weiss tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you think it's better that we'll never return to Remnant?" Blake glanced at her partner.

"I don't know...possibly," A white knight took the only black pawn on the frontlines, "This might be life's cruel way of telling us to move on."

"I'm an astronaut, Weiss." Blake watched her hand move her queen with the hole in Weiss' defense, "I don't believe in coincidences, but…" Her amber eyes blinked and connected with her friends azure ones, "Two women, who both had trouble with their fathers, did something that impacted their family, and wanted to be astronauts end up on the same flight that gets abandoned? If I didn't know any better, I'd say life definitely put us together to help one another move on." She shrugged.

Weiss rolled her captured pong in one hand, "That's your theory?" She used one finger to push her rook one space right, blocking the black queen.

"Well, Major Tom seemed to have had his mind made before he left for his mission, but we didn't, Weiss." The faunus' ear twitched slightly as she let out a sigh, "And maybe that's why there's two of us, instead of one Major Tom. There's two of us because we need to help each other make up our minds…"

"Hmm.." Weiss contemplated her co-pilot's words while she waited for a black piece to move.

"And also…" Blake continued

Weiss leaned in gradually, "What?"

"Checkmate." The aviator pushed her queen to capture the rook, and lock in the white king, "Again."

Weiss stared at the board as her friend basked in her victory. Her head fell onto the table with a bang, scattering the chess pieces.

Blake laughed, "Or maybe life brought us together so I could teach you how to play chess."

* * *

_Here am I floating_

' _round my tin can_

_Far above the Moon_

_This planet is blue_

_And there's nothing I can do_

* * *


	10. Lean On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a not-so-sad day on the ship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Lean On Me**

* * *

Weiss sat up with a sigh. Her hands slid down her face, clasping them together when they reached her chin. She looked over to see her co-pilot curled up in a deep sleep. Pushing a fist to her spine, there was a somewhat loud pop. Her feet spun to the side of the bunk and were pushed down to the floor. A shape inhale as her soles touched the cold floor. She stood with her shoulders back, biting the edges of her teeth. She reached for a cabinet labeled with her name and pulled out her next jumpsuit for the month. Unzipping her old one and balling it up in her hands, tossing it into the second cabinet. A pull here, a tug there, a zip there, and the fresh suit was loosely snug to her skin.

Satisfied with her attire, she stepped out of the resting quarters. Opening the door to the recreational module, she saw the specialized exercise machinery to work both with and without gravity. Her knuckles cracked and wrapped around the handles of one machine. She set her watch for an hour, then pushed her feet down on the elliptical machine's pads. Arms pulling back, feet pushing forward steadily. A half an hour and her body barely broke a sweat. She took her time, not pushing her body too far past its limits, not wanting to saturate her new suit in bodily fluids just yet.

Unbeknownst to Blake, today was a sad day for her. It wasn't a day of loss. It was a day of life, specifically her life. Today was the day she born, now twenty-seven years ago. A normal person would think of this as a time of celebration instead of sorrow, but for Weiss it brought pain and empty memories. It reminded her of the family she had left behind. It reminded her off all those lonely nights she spend treating herself to a bottle of champagne and a view of the stars.

The ship's intercom sounded, its channel now open and playing the music from the drive she found two months back. Blake must have woken up. Weiss had learned to accept the rock melodies over time. She had decided that even though it wasn't her prefered taste in music, it was good to listen to some voices other than her own and Blake's. Though by now the songs were getting repetitive, they learned every word to each tune, but it was all they had to sustain them.

"And I ran...I ran so far away...I just ran...I ran all night and day! I couldn't get away…" Weiss sang along as she exercised. When this song first played to her ears, Blake had pointed out the utter irony of the track. Pointing out how they had both tried to escape from their old lives, but the past had always weighed down on them. The girl that the singer had met correlated with them and the spacecraft, alone and adrift. If Blake wasn't an astronaut Weiss would've thought the woman was an english major, not a thing that flies giant machines. The statement had always stayed with her from that point, resulting in whenever heard the song she thought about Blake's words.

* * *

Amber eyes looked up from a checkered board as the sound of a cabin door, "Hey, Weiss."

The engineer watched the aviator move a chess piece, then spin the board around to move a piece of the opposite color. "Really, Blake?" She sat down across from the faunus, "You're playing chess with yourself?"

"Yes…There isn't much else to do…" Blake moved a chess piece, "I already checked the ship's functions and I can recite our books front-to-back, back-to-front. And since this chess board is fairly new, playing a game of chess with myself doesn't seem all that bad…" There was a brief moment of silence before she spoke up again with surprising statement, "Happy birthday by the way."

Weiss' brow shot up, shocked that her co-pilot knew this information, "How did you know that?"

"I have a good memory, Weiss. I remember reading your file."

"Oh…" Weiss sighed.

Blake leaned back into her seat, "I suppose your birthday isn't such a happy day?"

The birthday girl's sat in her palm, replying in a sarcastic tone, "How'd you guess?"

"That's why I don't celebrate my birthday...just too many memories…good and bad…" Blake scanned the ceiling, "What about you?"

"Somewhat the same, I think about all the times I sat on a folding chair with a glass of champagne, staring up at the night sky instead of picking up a scroll. I could have called and heard my sister's voice again...But I never did..."

Blake 's fell back onto Weiss, "You really loved her, didn't you?"

"Winter was the only person in our family that was actually... family. My father was strictly business and my mother...I don't even want the begin with her...So, yes, I did, Blake." Weiss sat up, "Although I was too much of a dunce to call her, I thought about her every birthday, no, every day."

"I was like that with my mother." Blake said, "After I told her what happened with Dad, she disowned me, kicked me out. I thought about her everyday as well...until I just had enough. I had to tell myself to move on, to remember the good and remember the bad, to keep moving forward." She gazed out the window, "That's what you have to do, remember the good and important things of a person and move on. Forget about them, but don't forget them completely…"

Weiss eyed the faunus with a curious eye, "It's just...I should have talked to her at least one last time…"

"Maybe it was better you didn't." Blake swung her view back to the human across from her.

The woman under her gaze responded, "And why is that?"

"To me, Weiss," Blake wet her lips, "It sounds like you two left each other loving each other. And who knows what would've happened if you called? For all you know, she could've been angry at you, then your last interaction would be in hate. And trust me, Weiss, I've felt that Weiss...you don't want to leave someone like that."

"Besides," Blake continued, "You really should be worrying about someone else other than your sister today."

A white eyebrow raised itself, "Let me guess, myself?"

Blake shook her head, "No...today was the day planned to launch the third manned spaceflight of the year."

"Oh, no…" Weiss covered her mouth, "You mean?"

Blake stared down at the board, " _ASA_ is probably still up to its antics."

Weiss glanced out the viewport, "What was their mission?"

"I believe they were supposed to orbit the sun a few times then return to Remnant…" The faunus sighed, "We both know what'll happen to them…"

"I just wish they was some way we could communicate…Some way we could stop them from..."

"Yeah…I do too.."

* * *

An eerie silence inhabited the cabin. Weiss sighed and patted her thighs to the rhythm of the song, "I'm going to...perform some of the experiments…" She got up from the booth and left the module.

Once she heard the door shut, she got up from the booth and picked up the chess board.

The door to the life support module opened up to a dark area. Weiss sighed and searched the walls for any sort of switch. Unknowingly to the engineer, a pair of amber eyes watched her blindly stepping around the cabin. She patted the aluminum interior while carefully moving her feet across the floor. Finally her hand found the panel and pushed a button.

The lights flashed on to reveal a smug looking faunus sitting at the booth. Weiss walked up to the plastic table with a confused look on her face. Peering down at the tabletop, she saw a food packet, a few drinks, and a folded up space blanket. Blake gestured to the empty seat.

"Blake...what is this?" Weiss asked as she slid in to the booth.

"Happy birthday…" Blake answered with a friendly smile.

Weiss' eyes fell shut, "Blake I told you-"

"I know what you told me, Weiss…" The faunus twiddled her fingers, "But I want to do something for you. I want to give you a birthday you won't loathe. It's the least I can do..." Her mind went back two months ago.

Weiss shook her head, "Blake…I don't know.."

"Come on, Weiss," Blake leaned forward, "Let me do something for you. Please?"

The birthday girl bit her lip and studied the aviator's smile. Blake had felt she had owed Weiss for helping her though the engineer thought no such things. She had stopped asking for things in return a long time ago, seeing at it always did no good for her. But here they were, whether she asked or not, Blake attempting to take a sad day and reshape it into a better one. Weiss eventually gave into her friend, letting a sigh escape, "Fine...but only because I think you'll do it anyway if I say no," She smirked.

Blake chuckled and reclined back into her seat. She slid a drink pouch across the plastic and picked one up herself, "It's no champagne, but I think it'll do," She used her thumb to uncap the pouch.

Weiss chuckled reading the contents, "I'm sure orange juice will be a fine substitute."

"Hey, at least you have a view of the stars," Blake sipped her beverage.

"Hmph…" Weiss glanced out the window, "Yeah...I guess I do…"

Blake was glad the woman was somewhat happy. It was something she hadn't been able to do for quite some time; making someone's life easier on them. No one had ever tried to do the same for Blake, except for this platinum-haired female before her. Weiss helped her muster up a second chance at a peaceful, content life. So she was pleased when she was allowed to repay Weiss in the same way she had given to Blake.

She admired the cosmonauts azure eyes, how they twinkled observing the most wondrous things. How no matter how moist they'd get, no matter how wide they'd get, they'd always return to that sparkling state. Those spots of cerulean were enough to inspire someone to move planets. They were  _the_  picture of pure innocence and curiosity.

"Blake? Blake?" Weiss waved a hand a few inches from the faunus' face, snapping her out of the dream state.

"W-What?" Blake shook her head.

"Are you ok?" Weiss tilted her head, "You seemed to be out of it…"

"I-I'm fine...it's just…uh…" Blake scratched her neck, eyes shifting around for anything to change the subject. Her pupils finally landed in the shiny space blanket, "Why... don't you open your gift?" She pushed the plastic sheet to her co-pilot

Weiss gave her strange look before averting her breathtaking eyes to the space blanket, "You wrapped it in a blanket?" The edges of her lips forms a smile.

"It was that or an old jumpsuit, you take your pick." Blake crossed her arms.

"This is fine…" Weiss unwrapped the blanket, revealing what it held inside. She paused for a moment when she saw what was inside and summoned up a hearty laugh, "Really, Blake?" She picked up the small square pack of papers, "I'm so happy that my first gift in ten years is-" Her hand twist around to show Blake her gift, "-Blake Belladonna's  _Guide to Chess_."

The faunus blushed, trying to hold in her laughter, "You're lucky, you get to read the first draft."

Weiss put the makeshift book down and let her amusement die down, "I love it, Blake" She locked their eyes together, "Thanks, Blake...you really didn't need to...but, thanks…"

"Of course I needed to, Weiss," Blake set her drink down, "With all that you've done for me, which includes saving my life, you deserve something. I mean it"

"I appreciate it, Blake. I really do…" Weiss placed her palms on the table, "This the best birthday I've had in years…"

Blake put up a one-sided smile, "Well it's not over yet…" She brought up the silver packet laying at the center of the table to her, "It took me a while to dig this up from our rations…" She said as she attempted to open the package.

Weiss watched her partner struggle with the pouch like she always does; just like a kitten. It was a scene that never failed to cheer her up. It was the same situation that gave their friendship life seven months back. The day they both made a friend, just because of that packet of freeze-dried bananas. And from that moment, their relationship evolved with each day and pouch of food. Blake would tear at it each meal and Weiss would say each time, "Here... let me..." She held out her open hand.

The cat's ears folded down in defeat and she gave the packet over.

"Ice cream?" Weiss asked as she tore the container with ease.

Blake shrugged, "I couldn't really get a cake…"

"It's fine…" Weiss set the pouch on the tabletop, "It's perfect actually…"

"Well, go on...'cut the cake' and make your wish"

"I don't need to," The engineer glanced out the window, then to Blake, "I got everything I need or want right here."

Blake laughed softly, wiping a few tears from her face, "Damn right."

Weiss' smile faded as her expression changed to worry, "Is something wrong, Blake?"

"No..it's nothing…" Blake shook her head, "It's just...memories…" She looked up into those azure eyes, "I used to say that...every birthday before the fights started to happen." She sniveled, pulling up a smile, "My mom and dad would get me a little cupcake with one tiny candle. It wasn't much, but I didn't care. I had all I needed. I had a family that loved each other, and it was good while it lasted."

She turned her gaze to the viewport, "I know I can never go back. Now matter much I want to." Her amber eyes met Weiss' once again, "So, I remember there's always a tomorrow. And move on."

"I move on."


	11. Chapter 11: Brain Damage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Named after a fitting Pink Floyd song. Prepare for a trip. And as always, enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Brain Damage**

* * *

It was cold. Everything was cold. Her head felt like she had survived a car crash. Her body was drained. Opening her eyes, all her blurry vision could depict was her hand on the metal floor and the underside of a bunk. The emergency lights flashed themselves in sync with an alarm. The room faded between darkness and a dim red, just bright enough for a normal human to see.

She pulled at her muscles, using whatever energy she obtained to sit up. She blinked a number of times at the sight she saw before her, hoping it was a mirage. Her partner was not in her bunk, but was replaced by a pool of crimson. It leaked off the red-soaked cot onto the white floor. A thick trail of blood lead to the extended ladder in front of her, then left another puddle.

Something in the back of her head told her to keep going; to not worry about the blood on the cabin interior. Her hand reached out for one of the rungs of the ladder and strained her weak form to pull herself up. She wavered, but was steady, nonetheless. The palm of her hand felt unusually warm to be holding onto a cold piece of metal. Fearfully peering down at her digits, she turned over the appendage, revealing a new dark red coating. Unwanted memories triggering in its sight, but she had to ignore them. She had to push on.

Looking up into the tube above her, her eyes shimmered. The channel, like the room she stood in, was covered in splatters and streaks of crimson. She flinched as a red drop fell onto her cheek. She wiped the blood off her face, though that only spread it thinly across her skin. Every fiber of her being told her not to scale the grim scene. But her partner was missing. And her presumed blood plastered against the walls. She grabbed the ladder and moved on. Like she always does.

She held her breath and kept her eyes forward as she ascended. Her jaw tightened every time she felt blood contact her skin. Memories clouded her vision with tears. All the blood she saw, all of it that was on her, all of it that flooded the floor. The spacecraft seemed to be oozing red from between its plates and panels. The ladder was almost too slippery to climb, her hands and feet drenched in the liquid life source. She tilted her head up, seeing only a few more feet to go, as well as the menacing turquoise tank.

Her nails scratched the floor of the fuel tank modules. Her muscles burned as she pulled herself up out of the tube and onto the grid wire catwalk. Once her feet were planted, she realized the tank had changed. It was covered in fuel gauges top to bottom, all reading that the tank was empty to its last drop. Her body felt weak, yet also enraged, as she looked the tank up and down. She raised a hard fist, ready to assault the fuel container.

" _Happy birthday...to you…"_ A twisted voice broadcasted through the intercom, causing the woman to stop in her tracks, " _Happy birthday...to you…"_

She turned to look at the entrance of the command capsule; dropping her fist. Her soles were quiet against the metal walk. The crimson trail had reappeared in the dim light, trailing from the tube she came from, to the door controls, and then under the door itself. Reaching her index finger out and to the button, she tapped it and quickly retracted. The door slid open, revealing nothing but the continuation of the trail into the tunnel.

" _Happy birthday to the monster...Happy birthday...to you…"_ The demonic song played on repeat.

Her body rattled as she approached the final door. Her heart beating out of her chest. Fear wrapping itself around her frame. She triggered the door controls, the door was pulled right. Inside the command capsule was nothing. Nothing. The blood path ended there.

She stepped inside, checking her peripherals before pressing on. A hand was set on her aviator chair as she leaned forward, examining the dashboard. Extending out a pair of loose digits, she flipped a few switches, stopping the alarm, though the power decided to not come online. She tried the switch again. And again. Until something dropped onto her cheek. She felt its warmth.

Her spine locked up and held her breath once again. She turned and craned her head up. And screamed. There was her partner, severed into bloody pieces, pinned to the ceiling by knives. She stared at the blade between the woman's dead blue eyes. The twinkle in her azure iris replaced with fright and death.

"Weiss!" She cried out.

" _Happy birthday...to you...Happy birthday...to you…"_ The intercom sang.

The engineer's butchered, pale form was spotted with dirt and gravel. Barely any blood spilled out of the open wounds, completely drained. The only thing dripping off of the mutilated corpse was a thin, clear liquid. More and more of the fluid seemed to fall off. The room filled with a new smell, an aroma that she recognized very easily; gasoline. At the exact second she discovered what the liquid was, her partner burst into flames, scorching the ceiling of the capsule.

"Blakey...Blakey...Blakey...you thought you could run from me?" A deep voice threatened.

Looking down from the grim, fiery scene, she saw another terrifying spectacle. Standing in the doorway, stood her father. Her living, oxygen breathing father. He wore a simple, clean flannel shirt and a clean pair of blue jeans, the same outfit he wore when Blake had done the deadly deed. He stepped forward toward his daughter, whom took a step back in return.

Her amber eyes wide in fear and disbelief, "No, you're dead! I-I burned your body!"

"You were always so sure of things, Blake." An evil grin strewed across his face.

"You did this to her!" She shouted, glancing up at her burning friend, "You did this, you monster!"

He chuckled, "Did I, Blake?" He tilted his head, raising his brow, "I have no blood on me…," He leaned in to accent his next point, "I'm not the one holding the red knife…"

She peered down, seeing the blood staining her jumpsuit. Her crimson painted hands shook in an adrenaline rush. Her digits wrapped around the handle of a bloody knife, the same blade she had used on her father. The weapon was dropped with a gasp, it clinked against the flooring.

"No... No!" She screamed

"Yes! Yes!" Her father chanted back

"No! No!

"NO!" Blake sprung forth from her bed, shouting at the top of her lungs until she was reduced to a pant. Weiss was immediately awoken from her slumber by her loud partner. She darted across the cabin, standing over her bunk.

"Blake," She got the panicking woman's attention quickly, "A-Are you ok?"

Blake spun her head around and as soon as those azure eyes, with a twinkle in their iris, she sunk into Weiss' arms; sobbing. A sad sigh came from the engineer's lips before she gently wrapped one arm around the frightened woman. Her free hand did its best to comfort the faunus, stroking her hair and scratching behind the feline ears. She bit her lip and glanced out the resting quarter's viewport; maybe this mission was beginning to take its toll. The terrified aviator just hugged her partner ever so tighter, leaving very little room to breath. But Weiss didn't dare complain or move a muscle, letting the other's emotions ride themselves out in the form of tears soaking the cobalt uniform.

"I-I...I-I...Y-You...B-Blood…" Blake muttered from her stuttering jaw.

Weiss looked down at her partner, still caressing her scalp, "I know, I know...it's ok now, I've got you…"

"I...saw...y-you...I saw...h-him…" Blake stared down at the metal floor, the clean, white metal floor, "H-He told me...He told me…"

"That you can't run from me." A different voice.

Instantly within a blink, Weiss' jumpsuit turned to an old pair of blue jeans; the hand scratching her head felt much bigger and rougher. Blake was immobile, petrified like a scared animal.

"And I wasn't lying, my dear daughter."

Blake repelled backwards, plastering her spine to the wall. Wide amber eyes were shaky at the sudden presence of her father. Signals in her brain told her to jump and run, and she did. Nearly tripping over herself as she dashed for the module door. She had to get to a place where he couldn't get to her.

Her fingertips frantically pressed the green button on the door's panel. Glancing over her shoulder only revealed her father slowly stepping through the habitation unit, whistling like it was a peaceful walk in the park. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead; her breathing became uncontrollable as the door's mechanism decided not to unlock. As her father's whistling grew louder behind her, the faster and harder she smashed the door controls. Until finally the mechanism accepted her input, sliding right and allowing access. She sprinted through the life support module, past the wall of containers and the chessboard atop the familiar white booth. Her soles skidded herself to a halt at the end of cabin, ready to enter the next room.

"Blake?" Weiss' voice. Her sweet voice.

Blake whipped around, eager to meet Weiss' soothing eyes, but almost went into cardiac arrest. Instead of having twinkling blue orbs stare back at her, a pair of frightened, worried eyes did. A knife was driven into Weiss' chest, dark spots of red stained the engineer's jumpsuit, blood still pouring from the wound.

"Why are you doing this?" Weiss asked.

A blink and her father returned, "You can't run from me."

"You can't run from this," The figment flickered between two ghosts.

The faunus used every amount of control she had to keep herself from breaking. She blindly punched at the controls rapidly again and again until she heard the door swish open. Running into the lab, her eyes immediately locked with her salvation; the airlock. The airlock door had already been opened suspiciously enough, though Blake gave it no thought, she had to get safe. When she stepped inside the airlock automatically closed on her. She didn't care, she was safe. Her abdomen convulsed as she let out silent, insane laughter.

Turning back to the way she came, she didn't see her father or the impaled ghost of her co-pilot. The only sight that made itself known was the unharmed woman with her digit placed on the jettison switch, crying trials of tears.

Blake's laughter faded, her emotions twisting back into fright and desperation. She banged her fist on the door's glass, "Weiss! No! Open this door!"

Weiss bit her lower lip, trying to keep herself from sobbing anymore, "I-I'm sorry...Blake…"

"No! Weiss! Don't!" Her fist pounded into the door.

"I'm sorry…" Weiss pushed in the button.

"No, W-!" The door shot open into silence. Words choked from her throat. She tumbled out into the abyss, feeling its freezing temperature as her vision quickly faded.

"WEISS!" Blake shouted, sitting up in her bed once more. She looked down at her shaking hands. She broke down to tears, hugging herself as tight as possible.

"Blake?" A concerned voice spoke up.

The aviator whipped around to Weiss' voice. Blake scurried back away from the other woman.

"Stay back!" Blake ordered, absolutely terrified.

Weiss took a step forward, hands up in peace, "Blake...It's ok, you're awake…"

Blake pressed her back to the wall, "I said stay back!" Her last command was followed by a hard slap to the face.

"Snap out of it!" Weiss grabbed the faunus by the shoulders, "What happened?"

* * *

"So…" Weiss glanced over to the fidgety woman across the table from her, "You dreamed you saw your father, then me chopped up, pinned to the ceiling, on fire?" Blake nodded, confirming her summary, "Then you 'woke up' to me, but then I was replaced with your dad and switched between him and I as we chased you around the ship and to the airlock.  _Then,_ normal me showed up, apologized, then _jettisoned_ you?" The faunus bobbed her head yes.

"Am I going insane…?" Blake looked out the window.

Weiss shook her head, "I don't know...maybe...probably not. It was most likely just a nightmare. Just a  _very_ bad one."

Blake took a deep breath and turned to Weiss, "Would you...do it?"

"Huh?" Weiss' white brow furrowed.

"The airlock…" Blake blinked, "Would you…"

Weiss pinched her nail and hung her head, "No…"

"But I thought you said-"

"-I know, what I said." The engineer cut off, flitting her eyes around the cabin, "I just... can't lose you."

Blake leaned on the tabletop, "What about all that stuff you said about 'doing what needs to be done?'"

"That was before I almost lost you!" Weiss snapped her focus back to Blake, sniveling with a swallow.

"When I was watching you float out into oblivion…" Azure iris fell back to the table, "The only thing I could think about was that you were going to die. That I was going to lose you. That I wasn't going to be able to save you. And that it was somehow my fault," She tightened her fist under the table, "It was then I realized how important it was that we stay together. It was then I realized how much I needed you...and how much you needed me, that we were the only things keeping each other going." She looked out the viewport," It was then I realized I could sacrifice myself for you." Azure and amber locked with intense seriousness, "It was then I realized how much I cared about you, because you were the one and only being to understand, because I couldn't let you die like that, Blake. Not without finishing the fight…"

"...Not ever."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CAN YOU FEEL THE SHIPPING?!


	12. Chapter 12: Rocket Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our pilots simply talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Spartacus400 on the RWBY Wikia for beta reading.
> 
> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

 

 

* * *

**Chapter 12: Rocket Man**

* * *

Weiss peered in through the doorway, looking out into the empty cabin. The engineer took a step into the module, giving the area another quick sweep. When what she was searching for didn't make itself known, she shook her head and sighed. This was the fourth module she checked and she came up dry again. She had woken up from a very overdue unscheduled slumber to find that her co-pilot was nowhere to be seen. This resulted in the woman sleepily stumbling through the spacecraft in search of her partner. A comb of the modules revealed that the faunus aviator had seemingly disappeared into thin air.

As she walked deeper into the cabin, her view drifted off towards the life support module's booth. The booth that Weiss and Blake had spent so many of their days sitting and talking at. The booth where their friendship began, where they shared laughs and sorrows, and where they grew to know one another. She thought about how in just four to six months, she'd have to say goodbye to to that old plastic table. It was probably going to be thing about the ship she'll miss the most.

Turning toward the wall of compartments that held their food and other supplies necessary to living. She retrieved two drinks from the locker, checking her peripherals for any sign of Blake before popping the cap open on and taking a sip of the beverage. She stuffed the other one into her chest pocket. She yawned and pushed her shoulders back. Her socked feet flopped their way through the bulky door frame, entering their resting quarters.

She stretched her arm up and grabbed the lowest rung of the exposed ladder, pulling it down. It ungracefully fell down its rails, clanging loudly as it stopped just before the ground. Her teeth bit down on the packet to hold it in place while she wrapped her digits around the cold metal. Placing her foot on the first rung, she took the packet from her mouth and gave the room a small look around.

Eyeing the bunks that had carried them all this way. The incredulously uncomfortable, hard, thin foam cots that had brought them here. Though as solid as they were and how many knots in their spines it had given them, they had granted the women important 'late night' conversations. Where the two would exchange old childhood stories; stories about the simple times, when everything was always going to be ok. The bunks had allowed them to be reminded of their morality, that they could still be a person, even on death row. Just like the booth, she'd have to bid farewell to these inanimate objects.

She sighed and put the pouch back in between her teeth. Her arms pulled herself up through the dimly lit tube. The cool walls contacted the surface of her skin as her palms shoved her out of the exit, awkwardly falling onto the mesh catwalk. A hand grabbed the railing and brought her back up. A turquoise fuel tank took up some of her vision; she stopped to observe it.

Everytime they saw it, they felt as if they'd been punched in the gut. It was a sad prompt that they'd never see Remnant, home, or anyone else ever again. The shade of blue had become an instigator for usually anger or hatred, sometimes it summoned tears. But as she stared at it now, she felt pity for it. The tank had done it's best to bring them to their destination; another world. It allowed only them to have the experience of stepping on the rich soil of a foreign planet. For that, Weiss was thankful, because she had remembered the tank's true purpose. To provide them with a new adventure.

Weiss patted the surface of the tank and continued on with her endeavour. She picked up her pouch, wrapping her lips around the straw and taking another whiff of the drink. A slow steady walk lead her through the long tunnel that connected to the head of the craft, until she reached the door on the end. A fingertip lightly pressed the button and door opened with a quiet swish.

There she saw her faunus friend, her back to Weiss, sitting luxuriously in her aviator chair. Her arms sitting on the rests as she relaxed her shoulders and her legs loosely pinned to the floor by her feet. Her feline ear twitched as she looked off into the black abyss. A track played through the capsule. Weiss stepped up closer to the ship's control panel.

' _She packed my bags last night pre flight... Zero hour nine a.m... And I'm gonna be hiiii-iiigh, as a kite by then...'_

"You had me worried for a moment…" Weiss said, taking a seat in her own chair.

Blake smiled, sitting up somewhat in her chair, "Sorry about that…"

' _I miss the ground so much...I miss my wife_ _..._ _It's lonely out in space...On such a tiii-iiimeless flight..."_

The two sat silent for a few minutes, staring out the cockpit's viewing windows. Counting the stars, admiring their twinkle in the darkness, how bright they shone. The  _Beacon_  had floated much closer to their parent star, now with less than a half of year left in their mission before they reached their destination.  _Nikos_ ' light radiated off through space, giving off wondrous amounts of heat and energy, allowing for the formation of life. But It also allowed them a second chance at life and to view life from different perspectives. Watching everything pass by and seeing things that no human or faunus could describe while you sit in your little pressurized tin can. This was no place for rage; no place for insanity; no place for guilt. For everything around them was dangerous and yet ultimately beautiful.

"What are you thinking about?" The engineer leaned back in her chair, taking in the view.

Blake sighed, "A couple of things…" She said vaguely.

Weiss' foot pushed the chair to face her co-pilot somewhat, "For example?"

The aviator lazily turned her head to those azure eyes she admired, "We've be on this ship for how long, Weiss?"

"One year, two months."

"Exactly...One year, two months," Blake wet her lower lip, "One year and two months; alone. Drifting across nothing, just to meet our end, just you and I."

"What's your point, Blake?" Weiss white brow scrunched up

The faunus sighed, "My point is...what  _is_  the point? I know we've tried to keep our heads high, saying we'll keep each other in one piece, even through the worst of it all." She looked back to the stars. But in the end what's the point of it all? Where we do go after that?"

Weiss chewed on the edges of her teeth, joining her co-pilot in her stargazing, contemplating a response.

' _And I think it's gonna be a long long time…"_ The man's voice sang over the intercom, _"Till touch down brings me round again to find… I'm not the man they think I am at home… Oh no, no, no, I'm a rocket man… Rocket man, burning out his fuse up here alone..._ '

"I think…" Weiss paused, working to construct her sentence, "That is the point...Blake…"

The aviator directed her ear to the woman's words, "What do you mean?"

"I mean...being alone, Blake. Loneliness, It's the saddest emotion a human or faunus can feel…" Weiss' gazed crossed over Blake, "And being honest, we've felt it most our lives. We've been alienated, pushed, threatened, and left out to die in the cold...and that's why I think we're here, right now. Because, from the moment you set yourself on this journey and the moment I did, myself, twenty-so years ago, we were destined to end up here, with each other, on this ship." Her palm caressed the center console between them, "And one important thing I think this ship, this mission, has taught me, it's the lesson of loneliness. Not forgiveness, not contentment, but loneliness. I learned that loneliness isn't... loneliness at all...because we're never alone. There will always be others like us, and one of those others that is waiting for you to just find them. No matter how long it takes...two, three, five years…" Her azure eyes looked up to her partner, "Or twenty years...we'll always find that person, that'll make us happy…" She swallowed softly, pushing down other emotions, "And like any person, when you find happiness...you fight to make that happiness last...as long as possible...no matter what…" Weiss straightened her herself a slightly, "And I think that's the point, Blake, that it's whether you...are willing to live and fight for that happiness or...just give up and die?"

Blake inhaled deeply, closing her eyes,, "Weiss...I...remember choosing to fight...for me..to keep my peace. But it never turned out good in the end… so why should I keep fighting now…?" Her eyelids lifted and amber met azure.

The engineer kept a somber gaze, "I've been on this ship with you for over a year...And I think I've gathered enough evidence...to know...that here; here is when you've been the happiest. It's where you truly met me. It's where our friendship truly began. It's where you truly felt...cared for...loved… Are you telling me you...don't want to fight for this anymore? What we made here?"

Blake shook her head, "N-No...it's ju-"

"Then just fight for it." Weiss interrupted, "Continue pushing on for it. Nurture it and keep what we have her strong."

Blake sat in her chair for a moment, thinking. Her focus shifting between the woman before her and the starry vacuum, "Alright…" She smiled, staring into those twinkling cerulean orbs, "I'll fight."

"Thank you...Blake…" Weiss beamed, holding back emotional tears.

"No, Weiss," The faunus stretched her arm across the gap between them, placing her hand atop Weiss', "Thank you, really…" She tugged at her lip lightly before falling back into her seat, "You've...really...helped me, Weiss…" Blake went on, "You really did. Like you said, here, I did feel cared for. You saved my life, in more ways than one, sometimes even risking your own life. And I don't think I can ever repay you for all that you've done for me."

Weiss put her hand up in objection, "No, Blake, you don't need to do that. We're ok."

"No, No, Weiss, I need to, I want to. I feel obligated to repay you in some way…"

"Really, Blake it's fine…"

"Is there anything I could do for you? Anything that you've ever wanted to do that I could help you achieve?"

Weiss angled her down for a second hiding a shred of embarrassment, "There are two things…."

Blake leaned in, "What are they?"

"Well...I've..always wanted to name something or call something my own…" The engineer directed herself towards Blake, "It got tiring real quick to have everything labeled Schnee Dust Company…"

"Weiss…" Blake pointed out the window, "There is a giant rock, about forty million kilometers out, that we're going to land on."

Weiss tilted her head, " _Nikos-3a?_ "

Blake nodded, "You own it now." She didn't miss a beat, "Give it the name you think it deserves."

"Blake, I can't...take that...it's going to be  _our_  new home."

"Well," Blake smiled, "I give you my rights to the planet."

Weiss knew the aviator was hell-bent on repaying her, she couldn't refuse this offer, no matter what the offer was. She bit her lip, pondering an appropriate name. After sometime, the ends of her lips curved up, " _Tollkirsche_ " she spoke with a rusty german accent.

"I like it...what does it mean?"

"Nothing…" Weiss smirked and shrugged the question off, "It's just the name of something I really cared for…"

Blake raised a brow, "And what was the other thing…"

"Well…" Weiss blushed, "I don't think you'll be able to make it happen…"

The faunus grinned with the utmost confidence in her eyes, "Try me."

* * *

"I can't believe you were able to make this happen!" Weiss spoke over the not-so loud-not-so-soft music, looking up at Blake.

The aviator smiled back down and the shorter woman. Apparently, the engineer had never been to a dance in all her life, always sticking to the books and staying there. They had shared a laugh when Blake had told her that she had also, never attended a dance in all her years. Weiss had given up the idea considering their circumstances, but Blake was persistent on making this little experience come true. Next thing Weiss knew, The faunus had yanked the music drive out of the console and ordered the woman to remain in her pilot chair until she returned.

After some time, Blake had retrieved the platinum-haired woman and brought her to the laboratory. Where she found the most impromptu, cheesy romantic-comedy movie ball. The lights were dimmed very low. An ensemble of ready-to-open drinks were placed set on the workbench. A makeshift disco ball, made up of a bunch of random shiny tools and instruments neatly strung together, was tightly hung from the first rung of the collapsed ladder by an expediently crafted rope made out of an old jumpsuit lining. Two helmets were also pinned to the ceiling by the ladder, using their flashlights to have light reflect off of the 'disco ball.' Blake had whipped up a skirt for Weiss. Composed of a folded extra space blanket, held together by a clever knot using spare washers and a tied elastic belt from some jumpsuit around the waist as a belt. The aviator had sacrificed one of her unused jumpsuits, tearing off the torso and sleeves as neatly as she could and modifying the collar to be more dress-like.

"It's the least I could do…" Blake insisted, looking down into those twinkling spots of azure.

_I could spend my life in this sweet surrender... I could stay lost in this moment forever…_  
"Where every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure! _"_ Blake sang along with the song, spinning her 'date' under her arm. Weiss giggled and smiled, bringing the taller woman closer, swaying to the music. Their grips on each other were stronger than the bonds of the ship.  
They stared into each others eyes, a mental serenity being shared between the two. Cerulean mixing with amber in the most wonderful of ways. Overwhelming emotions filled their slow moving limbs, each step bringing them closer to one another.  
Blake felt her date press herself to her chest, "Thank you, Blake...No one has ever done something like this...for me…"  
' _Don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep… 'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing… 'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do...I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing_ '  
"No...Weiss...Thank you...for everything…"  
At that moment, the two slowed their dancing to a halt, just standing, holding each other tight, staring into each others' eyes. The two carefully eased into one another, closing the gap between them. Blake lifted a hand to Weiss' cheek.  
"There's no one else I'd rather be here with…" Blake spoke softly,  
Planting her lips on Weiss'  
And they danced slowly into that good night.

* * *

_**And I think it's gonna be a long long time  
Till touch down brings me round again to find**_ _  
Don't wanna close my eyes, I don't wanna fall asleep  
'Cause I'd miss you baby and I don't wanna miss a thing  
_ _ **I'm not the man they think I am at home**  
Oh no, no, no, I'm a rocket man  
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone_ __  
'Cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream would never do  
I'd still miss you baby and I don't want to miss a thing

 


	13. Chapter 13: The New Era

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A New Era

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: RWBY is a product of Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC. All characters are owned by Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC.

* * *

**Chapter 13:** **The New Era**

* * *

Weiss' gaze was intense as she stared at the giant rock a few hundred thousand kilometers away. They were now close enough to vividly see the planet's size and surface. It was a strange mesh of greenlands and deserts and although its surface was rough, tremendously large patches of land of all sorts of geometry stretched across the planet's blue oceans. A notable feature was the body of water that nearly took over the entire eastern hemisphere; it collided the unclaimed continents of the new world in wonderful smooth grooves.

Although the ocean was a sight for sore eyes, it'll make landing difficult. They did not particularly wish to perform a water landing in the center of an enormous sea. If the rotation of the planet didn't turn in the favor of a solid surface landing, they might be reduced to execute maneuvers that the ship wasn't built to sustain. The possibility of the heat shield eventually failing was also a factor, not to mention an aerodynamic failure would tear them to shreds.

She was dying to reach the surface. As much as she loved this spacecraft, she was thrilled that she could finally escape the pressurized aluminum capsule. She wanted to dive into that nitrogen-based atmosphere headfirst. Her fingers were itching to dig into the grass and her lungs ached for fresh air, but all she could do was tell herself to wait. Only a few more hours until they'd perform a capture burn, then a deorbit burn.

A sigh broke her stare as she turned toward the door to see Blake finishing stuffing a load of food into one of the cockpit's internal compartments, barely closing the locker door shut.

"Alright, that's the last of the food we'll get on board the landing craft." Blake checked to the compartment mechanism, "How long until our capture burn?"

Weiss tapped her chin, "About four, five hours."

Blake gestured to the cockpit door, "Do you want to have one last drink on this ship before we have to leave?"

"Sure," Weiss nodded, "One last drink."

* * *

The vile juice supplement tasted like victory as Weiss moved her piece, "Checkmate."

The faunus stared down at the board in disbelief, he jaw hanging open, "That's the third game in a row you've beaten me," She leaned back in her seat, "What happened to you that you became better at this game than me?"

Weiss smirked, "I had a little help from Blake Belladonna's  _Guide to Chess_."

Blake chuckled, sipping her beverage, "I almost forgot about that…"

Weiss bobbed her head, "It feels like it was just only yesterday you were struggling to open that packet of freeze-dried banana chips." A snivel was followed up by a tiny laugh.

The laughter faded into a silence. Both woman just looked down at the board. They were a few hours from the moment they've been waiting for, for a year and a half. Eighteen months and now they've finally made it, and neither knew what to say about it. Were they excited? Nervous? Scared? Probably all three together.

"Do you still have those nightmares, Blake?" Weiss asked cautiously.

The aviator shook her head, "No...Not anymore, they stopped a long time ago…" Her eyes drifted off to the planet they orbited, "I guess...I'm just not afraid of him anymore…I just have no reason to..."

Weiss sighed in relief, glad to hear partners mental stability. The engineer joined her co-pilot and peered out the booth's viewport.

Imagining the waves of the alien ocean, crashing up against the foreign beaches. The wind whistling and rustling through the trees and breezing over the meadows. Her footprints in the dirt; all her senses watching, listening, feeling the planet live. She pondered the idea of any creatures that may roam the surface. If any took the form of mammals or reptiles. Maybe, just maybe, she could tame a companion.

"It's beautiful...isn't it?" Weiss inquired

"What?" Blake tilted her head, " _Tollkirsche?"_ She looked over the blue sphere, "Of course. It's life, in the making. Nothing else is more beautiful…"

Weiss dropped her chin into her palm, "I can't believe it'll be our new home."

"Me neither…" The aviator smiled, "But we'll land on it...and check that achievement off our list."

"What list?"

"You don't remember?" Blake raised a brow, "First all female mission, First manned interstellar mission, First manned alcubierre drive flight?"

Weiss chortled, "Oh, that list. That was a long time ago, Blake."

"I know, I know…" Blake glanced at her co-pilot, "But we accomplished a lot on this flight. First manned craft to leave the sun's SOI, first to land on another habitable world-"

"-First faunus in space" Weiss added, flashing her partner a cute smirk.

Blake reciprocated with a similar action, "First female couple in space."

They laughed somewhat in response of that comment before their laughter was reduced to a smile.

The engineer focused on  _Tollkirsche_ once more, thinking to herself for a moment, "You think you can do it? You think you can get us down there in one piece?"

"I think I can…" Blake examined the planet's surface, "I am a pilot after all. Entry's the easy part, landing is the hard part. We just have to hope the planet aligns well with our Entry vector," She pointed to the ocean on the eastern hemisphere, "But just by the looking where that ocean is and the speed of the planet's rotation. We should be okay, especially if we come over the ocean and start breaking the atmosphere a couple hundred kilometers from the shoreline. Then we'll be pretty much guaranteed a landing on solid ground."

Another silence filled the room. Weiss picked up her drink, "So this is it…" Addressing the idle thought in the room.

"Yeah...it is…"

Weiss held out her beverage to her partner, "Cheers, Blake."

The faunus hesitantly took her own in hand, pushing against Weiss' pouch, "Cheers, Weiss."

* * *

Nimble fingers checked the connections of her helmet, testing if all the components were working as they should. Once all was set good and well, the same digits flicked a few switches on the dashboard. The ship's navigation powered on, along with some other systems. The panel lit up with life like an animal awaking from a long hibernation.

Weiss looked over to her co-pilot, "Systems Check."

"Engines?" Blake tuned her own instruments.

"Check." Weiss flipped a switch.

"RCS?"

"Check."

Blake's palm was wrapped around the flight stick, "Are we greenlit for deactivating artificial gravity?"

Weiss watched her panel, searching for any abnormalities. When nothing dared to show its face, she inhaled, "You are greenlit, B."

"Standby for status," The aviator pushed the joystick left, feeling the weightlessness of space begin to carry them as the ship spun down.

"Three-quarters of a G…" Weiss counted down, "Half a G...Quarter of a G...Zero Gs." Blake let go of the stick, feeling her harness keep her in place. The spacecraft was 'stationary' and ready for any maneuvers. She locked her controls and turned on the stability assist.

"How long until capture burn?" The faunus asked, checking her O2 flow.

The engineer scrolled the data stretched across her monitor, tapping a number of buttons, "T-5 Minutes, burn until engine cutout.

"Directions received, preparing engine."

The ship flew at thirteen thousand meters per second through the nothingness. The  _Mercury_  engine pointing forward, leading the craft's travel. The exhaust cone pivoted in all directions as the engine's systems were checked once more for good measure. The seconds ticked by until the rocket motor was ignited. Fuel and oxidizer under negative two-hundred degrees celsius flowed through its tubing, cycling through its chamber, and blasting out the nozzle at twenty-two-hundred degrees celsius.

The back of Weiss' helmet tapped the chair's headrest. Pushing her head forward, she observed the numbers before her all tick down. Her co-pilot kept a tight grip on the throttle, ready for any complication to arise.

"All systems look good. Apogee is descending along with our velocity." Weiss called out.

Blake increased the throttle, "Throttle at one hundred, waiting on engine cutout."

The engineer monitored the rocket's engine's valves and temperature, "Engine is functioning at optimal efficiency," She switched between two data screens, relaying the information to the aviator, "Velocity at eleven thousand meters per second...ten-point-five thousand...ten thousand"

They heard the spacecraft groan as stress was slowly applied to its bindings. It wasn't enough to pull anything apart, but it did remind them of the risk. They tried to ignore the ship's terrifying sounds as they held their focus with the dangerous task at hand.

"Nine thousand...eight-point-five thousand...engine cutout in three...two...cutout."

From behind them they heard the engine clonk out, returning them to microgravity. There was silence about the ship as the astronauts ran last minute diagnostics on their vessel and prepared for undocking. Weiss' fingertips glided across the array of controls swiftly and gracefully. Eventually they hovered over a single button, she gazed down at it, gulping.

"Once I press this button," She glanced over to Blake, "There's no going back…"

Blake chuckled, "You say that like there is a reason to come back…" She exhaled and looked over her shoulder, "Any last words for our old friend?"

Weiss turned and glimpsed at the cockpit door for a minute, "Thank you…" She said softly, then looked back at the aviator, "For everything…" Her words weren't fully directed to the spacecraft alone.

"Ready?" She asked, receiving a nod from Blake, "Undocking...in three...two...one…"

The docking mechanism unlatched. Blake tapped forward on the reaction control systems, pushing the landing vehicle away from the mother vessel with puffs of white gas.

"Undocking is confirmed. Approach minimum safe distance before initiating deorbit burn." Weiss announced.

Blake let go of her controls, sighing, "Weiss...before we start our descent...I just want to say...in case we don't make it…" Her amber eyes into her partner's azure, "I love you…"

"I love you too," Weiss then added with utmost confidence, "B, You are greenlit for deorbit burn."

* * *

This was it. The deorbit burn had been completed and they were only a couple kilometers from hitting the atmosphere. Their speed seemed to be finally topping around nine thousand meters per second. So far, their descent looked very pleasing; just as Blake had hoped, they were coming in over the ocean and were close to the shore.

The cabin shook slightly as they came over the horizon, the sun peaking over the edge of the planet. They were entering the atmosphere. Blake tilted the nose of their ship up at a shallow angle. Beginnings of flames sprouted lightly from the undercarriage as they slowly inserted themselves into the planet's gases. The capsule's subtle quivers were quickly developing into a low intensity quake. Friction between the air and the landing craft increasing with each passing second.

Weiss could barely keep her neck stiff and watch her monitor. Looking at her co-pilot through the blurriness revealed her tense, still form. Her eyes locked on with the skies before them and a grimm-like grip on the flight stick, resonating her focusness. Not even put off as flames burst forth from the nose of their craft. She just maintained a steady hand with her eyes forward.

The engineer snapped back from her prolonged glance and returned to her duty. Reading off imperative numerals to her crew member and spying the ship's sensors.

Her eyes shifted between the data and hot flares of heat that scraped up against their spacecraft, "Ninety thousand meters, seventy-five hundred meters per second, heat shield nearing peak heat at sixteen hundred degrees. Suggesting increasing angle of attack."

"Negative. Any higher angle will cause aerodynamic failure, maintaining current angle of attack." Blake responded.

"Copy that. Eighty thousand meters, seven thousand meters per second, heat shield is at peak heat." Weiss gazed at the falling altimeter.

Eventually after what seemed like hours, the craft entered the lower atmosphere. Their speed was greatly reduced from over mach twenty to about mach three with the help of large banking turns. The stress and tension in the air thinned out to to be almost non existent. Blake sighed in relief with her hands still mentally bonded to the controls.

They'd easily chose a landing zone; a long flatland close to what appeared to be a lake. The trained pilots flew over the area at over a thousand meters per second. Performing another banking turn, they were able to see the beautiful landscape beneath them in the dim light. The cascading fields of a lush green, running over the crust as if it was simply painted on. Seeing the alien sun's rays glimmer off of the shimmering water. It was their new home, a wonderful new home.

Blake had looped around and was now aligned with the plain, "W, what's my speed and altitude?"

"One hundred thirty-eight meters per second and three thousand meters."

The aviator pulled back on the stick, pointing the nose up a tad higher to bleed off more speed without losing her control. She's this close, she can't make a mistake now. Not with Weiss' safety on the line. Their faint mach cone had evaporated into the air, signaling they were now under mach one, a decent landing speed.

Angling the craft back to its intended landing position, she deployed the landing gear, locking them in place.

"Brace for contact and prepare the drag chute!" Blake ordered, her words pressing Weiss into her chair.

"Three hundred meters! Two hundred! One hundred!" Weiss ticked off.

The vehicle's wheels contacted the planet, spraying dirt along it's entire underside. It was  _Tollkirsche's_  first imprint of an extraterrestrial touching down on its surface. Their upper torso lurched forward, and even more so when the drag chute deployed. The interior rattled more than the atmospheric insertion as the tires sped across the rough terrain. Landing with such force the gear dug into the dirt as it slowed down.

The backs of their helmets hit their headrests, confirming the chute had been detached and they were now traveling around thirty meters per second. Blake's feet pushed on the flap pedals, decreasing their speed. The  _Beacon's_ nose stopped a meter or two from the edge of the lake. A morning sun peering just above the edge of the planet, shining red beams of light against their visors.

Blake gasped for breath, letting go of her joystick. Weiss, a bit shaken up, turned to her co-pilot. The faunus quickly caught her breath and flashed a smile to her. If they weren't restrained by their harnesses, they would've leaped into each other's arms. They reached out to one another, each grabbing the other's palm tightly, nearly crying tears of joy.

"Zero meters per second...You did it, Blake…"

"No…" Blake's spare hand pressed a button on the panel, beginning to depressurize the capsule, "We did it."

* * *

The cockpit door opened, a step-ladder extending until it punctured the earth. Two orange cosmonauts stepping onto the first step. Scanning over the foreign land a few steps from their feet. The taller one tapped a few buttons on her wrist. A few seconds passed before she gave a nod to the shorter astronaut. Simultaneously they reached for their helmet, pulling on a few mechanisms and twisting their helmet to the left. Fresh, breathable air flooded their senses as they lifted up their headgear. Looking at one another with tiny smiles, they propped their helmets under their arms, and intertwined their gloved fingers.

Stepping together, they pushed their feet into the alien surface. Each becoming the first one to set foot on the planet, their planet. Moving around the spacecraft, they sat at the edge of the lake. Resting their heads on each other.

And watched their first sunrise, on their new home.

With a single thought being shared between them:

" _Thank you"_


End file.
